Top 5 LGBTQ+ Movies

 

Along with the beginning of the 21st century, the movie industry has started to acknowledge the need for diversity in movies. There were very few movies or tv series that presented characters of diverse races and skin colours and even fewer that realistically portrayed LGBTQ+ characters. I believe many of us remember '80s and '90s teen movies which never ceased to include stereotypes such as “the gay best friend”, who had to dress colourful, be fashionable and “too pretty to be straight”. For instance, remember Christian from the movie Clueless? Dionne justifies his sexual orientation by saying that he likes to shop and knows how to dress. Stereotypes over stereotypes. Consequently, we were presented an unrealistic image, based on the stereotypes regarding the LGBTQ+ community. Moreover, these characters were never at the centre of the action, being always marginalised. Therefore, we weren’t been offered the chance to get a grasp on their way of thinking, their own feelings and struggles with life. No wonder this community has been misunderstood for such a long time. After all, cinematography has a huge input on people’s way of perceiving things. Nowadays, fortunately, filmmakers have finally found the courage to shed light upon different marginalised complex characters. In 2016, for the first time in Hollywood history, the movie Moonlight, which presents the coming-of-age story of an African-American homosexual boy, received the award for Best Motion Picture of the Year. Even though it may not sound like a big deal, it represents a huge step for humanity, on its journey to acceptance and unconditional love. From then on, more and more filmmakers started to come up with various ideas, in order to prove that movies which revolve around LGBTQ+ main characters can be truly captivating and deserve recognition. As a cinephile, I’ve always wanted to write an article talking about my experience with LGBTQ+ movies, as, during this lockdown, I’ve found enough time to discover a bunch of very interesting movies. Consequently, further on, I will briefly go through five of my favourite LGBTQ+ movies, which hopefully will broaden your horizons and enlarge your perspective, while also providing an enjoyable experience to you, as a viewer.

 

5) God’s Own Country (2017)

Director Francis Lee created an unexpected bucolic love story taking place at a farm in Yorkshire. The main character is Johnny Saxby, a young farmer, who finds himself in a monotonous daily routine after being forced to step into his father’s shoes and take care of the farm work. Frustration determines him to resort to casual sex and careless drinking in order to feel in control of his life. However, taken aback by the arrival of a Romanian immigrant who doesn’t cease to surprise and incite him, Johnny gradually begins to regard the world around him differently. As he experiences both love and grief, his shallow view of life, family and relationships completely changes. If you live in the countryside as I do, you will definitely find this movie surprisingly realistic and thorough in terms of everything that farm work requires. For instance, scenes where cows and sheep are giving birth are just as graphic and detailed as the sex scenes between the characters. I found this helpful in shaping the idea of the parallel between animal and human life: the characters carelessly roll around in the dirt and sleep on hay, similarly to animals. The movie helps the audience understand the simplicity of life, the connection between nature and love, giving us the change to observe the way love blossoms between two human beings, changing their lives forever.

4)Moonlight (2016)

Another great coming-of-age movie is Barry Jenkin’s Moonlight, which managed to awaken many emotions inside of me. It presents the evolution of Chiron’s life, a young African-American gay man, growing up in an unfriendly environment, surrounded by a neglecting drug-addicted mother and lots of bad influences. The audience follows Chiron as he struggles with abuse and bullying, while discovering his identity and his sexuality. The movie is segmented into three parts, representing three different phases of the character’s life: childhood, teenage years and adulthood. Each of these periods of time bring changes to Chiron’s life and, therefore, to his personality, changes illustrated in the movie by three different actors in the same role. Even the poster that advertises the film portrays the main character’s face split into three pieces, shedding light upon the fact that one’s personality consists of traits acquired throughout the different stages of life. What I found captivating was the fact that, in spite of seeing three different actors play the same character, as an audience, I never felt any disruption between them, each image of Chiron being connected to the other. This, more than anything, is proof of the unquestionable acting skills that Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes possess. Besides the amazing acting, other aspects such as the visuals, the background music, the chromatic and the camera work in this film also never cease to disappoint, giving birth to a story so simple, so raw and so credible that it deserves as much recognition as possible.

 

3)Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Céline Sciamma imagined a love story that takes place on an island in Brittany, at the end of the 18^th century. In this serene environment, art, love and lust for life intertwine, giving birth to a motion picture as beautiful as a Monet painting. Portrait of a Lady on Fire first captures the public’s attention with the beautiful scenery it presents, proceeding to introduce the audience into the 18th-century aristocratic life. The storyline begins with Marianne’s journey to an isolated island, where a countess hired her to paint her daughter’s wedding portrait. However, during this process, she discovers Héloïse, the young lady she has to paint, to be not only a fascinating muse, but also a companion unlike anyone she had ever met. The young woman surprises the audience by having an unconventional mindset, continuously fighting for the freedom her mother took from her by arranging her marriage. Héloïse’s character is definitely out of her time: her struggle against the rules and prejudices of the time makes her a remarkable personality who inspires young women and men even nowadays. Throughout the plot, the relationship between the two main characters evolves along with Héloïse’s portrait. In the beginning, the painting only shows her body, as Marianne cannot paint her face without getting to know her better. Then, even though she finishes the face of the portrait, she ends up destroying it, as she realises that she hasn’t been true to Héloïse's personality. The portrait is properly done only after the bond between the characters has strengthened enough, allowing Marianne to understand the essence of Héloïse’s character. The captivating visuals, the unique characters and the carefully-thought symbols in Portrait of a Lady on Fire make Héloïse’s and Marianne’s story an inspiring and very endearing one.

 

2)A Single Man (2009)

When I first heard about Tom Ford making his directorial debut, I must say I didn’t have many expectations, except for the aesthetic, which I admit was beyond gorgeous. However, what surprised me about A Single Man was the fact that it wasn’t at all an obscure, difficultly understood movie, as it may seem from the trailer. In fact, the emotions that are illustrated are quite easily perceived, determining the audience to empathise with the characters. The sadness and grief which envelop the main character, George, who tragically lost his partner, are pointed out by well-thought small details in the film, such as the changes of colour, from warm to cold tones. One of the most interesting parallels in the movie is the one between suffocation underwater and depression. There are multiple scenes where George is portrayed beneath the surface of the water, fighting for air, which is a great metaphor for him being overwhelmed by his sorrows. The environment in which the character lives was also carefully thought, as it indicates important aspects of his life. George lives in a glasshouse which gives the people on the outside the impression that they can see everything, that they know all that goes on in his life. However, the perfectly arranged decorum that surrounds George is permanently in contradiction with his state of mind, as he feels lost and drained of any lust for life. While still grieving over the man he loved, George also faces the everyday struggle of pretending to be someone he’s not, of hiding his sexuality in fear of being misunderstood and misjudged by the homophobic society in the ‘60s. A Single Man sets you in between losing hope and regaining it, it puts you in the shoes of a broken-hearted man and makes you question love, life and death.

 

1)Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Called by the New Yorker “An Erotic Triumph”, Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of André Aciman’s novel, Call Me by Your Name, is not only one of the best portrayals of love, but also one of the most visually pleasing movies in the industry. Similar to the book, the film is beautifully constructed, the visuals and the music exceed our expectations, creating an idyllic environment where every one of us would have wanted to fall in love for the first time. The story follows Elio’s coming-of-age journey, his discovery of love and lust over the course of a summer, when he meets a guest of his parents, whom he has mixed feelings about. The movie proceeds to show Elio’s emotional journey, focusing on the way the first love feels like. As an audience, we can’t help but relate to the way the young boy is questioning his feelings and doubting himself, as the movie manages to unlock memories of our first love in our unconsciousness. We relive the curiosity, the lust, the passion, the impatience and the frustration that come along with experiencing love and we empathise with young Elio. Along with the main character, we realise the fact that no amount of theoretical knowledge can prepare one for experiencing love, an idea illustrated by Elio when he states “I know nothing (…) If only you knew how little I know about the things that matter”. The emotions in the film are subtle, but deep, expressed so naturally by Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer, whose acting is undoubtedly spot-on. Call Me by Your Name transports us into a dreamy ‘80s Northern Italy town, while presenting an emotional, heart-warming story, that reminds us how love can change people in the most beautiful ways.