This was no easy task! Have a look and let us know if you think we got it right. We will be publishing TomDickandSally's Top 10 Lesbian films very soon.
The List: - My Own Private Idaho (1991)
- Brokeback Mountain (2005)
- Beautiful Thing (1996)
- Shelter (2007)
- Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
- Maurice (1987)
- Trick (1999)
- Philadelphia (1993)
- Big Eden (2000)
- My Beautiful Launderette (1985)
My Own Private Idaho (1991) Starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, this beautifully dark, riveting and devastating film tells the tale of two friends, Mike (Phoenix) and Scott (Reeves) as they embark on a journey that takes them to Mike's hometown in Idaho and then to Italy in search of Mike's mother.
Scott is the son of a wealthy mayor and claims his working as a rent boy is an act of rebellion. Mike, however, is a gay narcoleptic and has no other means of support. The two develop a strong friendship that is pushed to the limits by Scott's attitudes and behaviour, as well as Mike's love for his friend.
Brokeback Mountain (2005) Set in 1963, beautifully filmed and overtly sexual. This Oscar-winning film starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal tells the moving tale of two young ranch hands in the Wyoming Mountains.
During the long months of isolation, an unusual bond starts to develop between them culminating one night when the sexual tension rises to the surface in a passionate encounter. They part ways, only to realise the true depth of their feelings. Thus begins a decades-long affair that the two of them desperately try to hide from those around them--one which will prove simultaneously moving and tragic. And that shirt!
Beautiful Thing (1996) Based on Jonathan Harvey's acclaimed stage play, this is a tender love story set on a South-East London housing estate. Unpopular Jamie bunks off school to avoid football, lives next door to athletic and popular Ste who suffers from physical abuse at the hands of his family. The violence brings Jamie and Ste together: The story tells of their growing attraction for one another, from initial lingering glances to their irrefutable love, which is so magnificently illustrated at the end of the film.
The film deals with coming out and coming to terms with homosexuality. Set against this are the sub-texts of Jamie's mother's desire to manage her own pub, and thus escape the estate and of her new relationship with her hippy boyfriend; and of Leah, the brash girl next door who spends her time listening to Mama Cass records and tripping on a variety of drugs.
Shelter (2007) Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach spends his days working a dead-end job and helping his needy sister care for her son. In his free time he surfs, draws and hangs out with his best friend, Gabe, who lives on the wealthy side of town.
When Gabe's older brother, Shaun, returns home, he is drawn to Zach's selflessness and talent. Zach falls in love with Shaun while struggling to reconcile his own desires with the needs of his family. Directed by Jonah Markowitz who is shrewd enough to give us the beefcake that defines the genre, but he's also talented enough to deliver something more.
Prick Up Your Ears (1987) Joe Orton's madness, self destructiveness and notoriety are the subject of this claustrophobic film. In post-war London of the mid-1960s, Orton the playwright, cruised the toilets of Islington and, in 1967, was bludgeoned to death by his boyfriend, Kenneth Halliwell. This is the focus of Frears' film, which Alan Bennett adapted from John Lahr's 1980 biography. It is intense whilst at the same time wonderfully humorous.
Expect little on Orton's writing; this is literary tittle-tattle. Watch out for a brief, uncredited cameo from Derek Jarman. Gary Oldman, Alfred Molina and Vanessa Redgrave star
Maurice (1987) E.M. Forster's provocative 1914 novel is brought to the screen by director James Ivory in this beautifully photographed film. Set in pre-World War I England, the film concentrates on the coming of age of two young men who meet at Cambridge University and fall in love. Maurice (James Wilby) and Clive (Hugh Grant) struggle emotionally within the confines of society's moral hypocrisy.
Following the imprisonment of his gay friend, Clive eventually succumbs to a traditional life. But Maurice chooses a more difficult, but honest, way of life, true to his sexuality. When a young gamekeeper (Rupert Graves) returns his affections, Maurice experiences his first real happiness and a mixture of fulfilment and disaster.
Trick (1999) In this art-house hit set in Manhattan, a shy musical comedy composer fruitlessly searches for somewhere to lodge with a sexy go-go dancer. College student, Gabriel wants to compose musical comedies; Katherine, his muse and confidante, wants to star in his productions. In the meantime, she's rehearsing an all-female version of Salomé set in a women's prison while he drowns his sorrows about a negative review at a tony strip club.
On the way home from the bar, Gabriel notices Mark, one of the dancers from the club. They attempt to consummate things at Gabriel's tiny apartment, only to find themselves frustrated by pets, roommates, and a visit from Katherine. In their attempt to find somewhere more suitable their relationship develops. Much of the publicity over the film centred on the heterosexuality of its two male romantic leads. Christian Campbell and Tori Spelling star.
Philadelphia (1993) Philadelphia centers on the lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) and his efforts to sue his employers on the grounds that they dismissed him for having AIDS. Because of the prejudice that existed, he is unable to find proper representation, so employs the services of a hack lawyer, a somewhat homophobic and ambivalent character.
Hanks undeniably carries the film and its impact has naturally lessened with time, however on its release Philadelphia was a brave and groundbreaking release for a Hollywood film industry in denial. Hanks seems to understand what the movie needs and gives it his all. When he's spending time with on-screen partner Antonio Banderas, he becomes the acceptable face of AIDS that the world needed to see. A tearjerker.
Big Eden (2000) Big Eden is a tiny town tucked away in the timberland of north-western Montana, where cowboys lounge on the porch of the general store to pass the time away, and keep their eyes on things. Although it's been years since he was back, Henry Hart, a successful but lonely New York artist, returns to Big Eden, the town of his childhood, to care for the ailing grandfather who raised him.
Once home, Henry finds he must come to terms with his relationship to Dean Stewart, his best friend from high school, and the object of his unrequited love. Henry's feelings for Dean, which caused him to flee Big Eden nearly twenty years ago, seem to have only grown stronger over the intervening years.
At the same time, Henry's reappearance sparks a transformation in Pike Dexter, the shy, unassuming, Native American owner of the town's general store. Pike is as surprised as anyone, and completely unprepared, when he finds himself falling in love with Henry.
As this unspoken triangle unfolds under the scrutiny of Big Eden's community, nearly everyone in town develops a stake in its outcome. When tragedy strikes and Henry chooses to leave once again, and Pike is unable to articulate feelings which might alter Henry's course, it is ultimately the people of Big Eden that must join together in an effort to help two of their own find true happiness.
BIG EDEN is a uniquely American fable about home and family. It hits upon the universal longing and hope we each have for finding a place where we are loved, and the unconditional desire to see those that we love find happiness. In an age when self-acceptance and taking a hold of one's destiny is more relevant than ever, Big Eden may be the right inspirational movie for our evolving times.
My Beautiful Launderette (1985) My Beautiful Laundrette is set within the Asian community in London, during the Thatcher years, with everything that entails. Omar gains the running of his Uncle Nasser's laundrette. He is helped by his friend Johnny who is an outsider, white but not entirely accepted by either the white or Asian Londoners.
There are many memorable characters: Tania, Omar's cousin whom he might marry. Rachel, Nasser's white mistress, who, like Johnny seems to be another outsider. The interaction of these people gives a comic insight into their world and makes a very refreshing film.
My Beautiful Laundrette was ground-breaking in its bold exploration of issues of sexuality, race, class and generational difference. It also sparked controversy, particularly within the Asian community, which was disgusted by its perceived degrading representation of Pakistanis. At a New York demonstration by the Pakistan Action Committee, banners called the film "the product of a vile and perverted mind".
Article by Dominic James