Best gay film ever made

lff12

Watching this many years after I originally saw the film, one thing I notice is how so many of Firstein's one liners have become common statements. This wasn't cliché: Firstein himself wrote many of the comments that now are commonly held as gospel for queer people everywhere. My favourite scene is the last one, the beautifully scripted showdown between Firstein's Arnold, and Ann Bancroft's Ma. Bancroft is so well cast as Ma - the tiredness, the lack of understanding - such a human picture. Thats what makes this picture so special - all characters are human. Even Allan, far from being perfect, is not quite perfect.

My other favourite scene in this film is the lovely seduction of Arnold by Ed to the tunes of Rod Stewart. In fact every time I hear the song "Maggie" I think of this scene with Arnold's nervousness and bashful coyness. And I saw in the DVD edition that the street where Broderick's Alan is beaten to death was also one where the unprovoked murder of gay people is a reality - this makes the last part of the ambulance scene where Arnold is barely able to walk after seeing Alan's bloodied body, almost real.

I think this is the best gay file ever made. It is certainly dated, with the corporate imposed restrictions on the showing of gayness, but the story is so beautifully crafted. You realise how pathetic commercial fests aimed at straight people like "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" is after seeing this: the message Harvey Firstein wrote in 1983 is still relevant today.

score 10/10

lff12 21 December 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0982807/