March 29 marks five years since the first same-sex wedding ceremonies took place in the UK. To celebrate this milestone, we've picked four LGBTQ+ films for you to try.
A Single Man, 2009
Dir: Tom Ford
Chosen by Patrick Sullivan, Film & TV Editor
IMDb / Icon Films
When fashion designer Tom Ford announced he was producing, writing, and directing his first feature film, the whole film world scoffed and keenly anticipated what they expected only to be a failure. Alas, A Single Man is a gorgeous film patiently paced and oozing with style and skill; it is also a gay story told by a gay creative, which is not only socially important, but means the narrative feels authentic rather than forced. Ford used his network to assemble a team of stellar talent: young Spanish Director of Photography Eduard Grau executes Ford’s vision sumptuously, Colin Firth plays a 1960s professor who represses his true grief after the sudden death of his long term partner, and Nicholas Firth his admiring student exploring his sexuality. Seven years later, Ford reaffirmed his deserved place among filmmakers with Nocturnal Animals (2016).
Pride, 2014
Dir: Matthew Warchus
Chosen by Luke Silverman, Film & TV Deputy Editor
IMDb / CBS Films
Pride was only a film I saw recently, and to say I’d missed out for not watching it is an understatement. Based on the true events surrounding the establishment of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign, we are treated to a movie about friendships and the struggles of being part of the LGBTQ+ community under Thatcher. The film is made accessible through the creation of the fictional Joe ‘Bromley’ Cooper (George MacKay), who is the audience surrogate. Fantastically supported by Ben Schnetzer as Mark Ashton, the founder of the group, as well as appearances by fan favourites Andrew Scott, Bill Nighy, and Imelda Staunton, the film is not only informative of important gay history, but is also a real feel-good film. If you need a good pick-me-up, grab some friends, get under a blanket, and bang this one on - you won’t regret it!
My Beautiful Laundrette, 1985
Dir: Stephen Frears
Chosen by James Turnbull, Film & TV Online Editor
IMDb / Channel 4 Films
This daring, dizzying and delightfully transgressive work crams so much into its meagre 97-minute runtime it threatens to come apart at the seams. What begins as a coming-of-age story - young British-Pakistani Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is tasked by his enterprising uncle with reversing the fortunes of an ailing laundrette in South London - rapidly evolves into something far more complex. Though taking aim at the darker side of Thatcher’s Britain, the contradictions of its characters and the perpetually simmering clash of cultures mean the film’s themes are never one-dimensional. Of course, the film also remains a cinematic landmark for its groundbreaking relationship between Omar and former friend-turned-thug Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis), whose journey back from the social fringes is the story’s true beating heart.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, 2018
Dir: Marielle Heller
Chosen by Nora Gunn, Film & TV Deputy Editor
IMDb / Twentieth Century Fox / Mary Cybulski
The Oscar-nominated Can You Ever Forgive Me?, starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E Grant, is a biopic about the infamous literary forger Lee Israel (McCarthy). Set in New York in 1991, Lee is a loner, a heavy drinker and a failed biographer. Under the pressure of Manhattan rent and expensive vet bills, Lee discovers her talent for forging celebrity letters. Lee is not a likeable person, although there are scenes in which she betrays a little kindness, most notably in allowing her friend Jack to move into her place when he has nowhere else to go. Although their friendship is based on drinking and scamming bookshop owners, their relationship is somehow endearing. Both McCarthy and Grant play gay characters, but refreshingly their sexuality isn’t the topic of the film. It is a story about two complex individuals who just so happen to be gay.
Featured Image Credits: IMDb / Icon Films; Photo by Nicola Dove; IMDb / Channel 4 Films; IMDb / Twentieth Century Fox / Mary Cybulski
Collage via Canva
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