Out at the Movies: A History of Gay Cinema, Updated and Expanded Edition by Steven Paul Davies; Kamera Books, $27.95
It is hardly an original observation to note that LGBT cinema has mirrored the community's journey from persecution to liberation to acceptance, shifting through the years from being fringe to independent to mainstream. Steven Paul Davies, a gay English film critic and broadcaster at BBC Radio London, wanting to analyze this metamorphosis, has updated and expanded his 2008 popular history of gay cinema, "celebrating films which have defined the genre, " including recent movies such as Carol, released just last year.
The films are arranged decade-by-decade, with an introduction to each period covering major themes and brief mentions of movies made during that time. It is followed by detailed reviews of what Davies feels are the most important films, as well as capsule biographies of key gay actors, writers, and directors, with snippets of memorable dialogue as well as glossy color photos. The final chapter is an appendix of the Gay Oscars, presumably gay-themed films that have won or been nominated for Academy Awards, that seems incomplete. It is not meant to be encyclopedic in the way Ray Murray's Images in the Dark was in 1994, a classic reference guide of over 3,000 movies, long out of print. Nor can Out touch Vito Russo's Celluloid Closet for depth or searing insight into homosexuality in the movies.
Still, one of the pluses of the book is the foreword by Simon Callow, the openly gay English actor, writer, and director perhaps best known for his portrayal of the gay friend Gareth who dies in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Like Davies, Callow sees Brokeback Mountain as the great LGBT breakthrough because it had two big well-known actors making love to each other, whose careers were actually advanced by appearing in it. Callow notes that when he began his career 40 years ago, such a development would have been inconceivable. He also evaluates Gareth as being a new kind of gay character in films, not a stereotype: masculine, occasionally offensive, generous, and passionate. The most important moment in FWaaF comes when Hugh Grant remarks that amidst their group of friends in relationships, the most ideal "marriage" was Gareth and Matthew, who delivers a moving oration at the funeral. Callow comments that since it is now feasible for straight actors to play gay and not be penalized, it has become harder for gay actors to get parts for which they are qualified. In four pages, Callow provides more illumination than Davies does in 220 pages.
Frustratingly, Davies highlights only about a dozen films per decade, about 65 total, and some of his choices are idiosyncratic. For example, in the 2010s chapter, he selects 2015's I Am Michael, a deeply flawed film starring James Franco as Michael Glatze, a gay journalist and activist who, after a transformative religious experience, renounces his homosexuality and "gay lifestyle." But he does not choose The Danish Girl, about the transsexual artist Lili Elbe in 1920s Copenhagen, also released last year and problematic, but a more significant film, which netted Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander Oscar nominations. While he chooses most of the obvious candidates (Children's Hour, Boys in the Band, Midnight Cowboy, Cabaret, La Cage Aux Folles, My Beautiful Laundrette, Maurice, Torch Song Trilogy, Philadelphia, My Own Private Idaho ), there are some glaring omissions of important titles, such as Tea and Sympathy, Sunday Bloody Sunday , Wedding Banquet , Longtime Companion , and especially Desert Heart, arguably the most successful lesbian film. While there are lesbian and transsexual movie entries, 90% of the coverage in Out is gay.
For the average reader seeking a broad survey of popular LGBT movies, this flawed book will suffice for now, and will trigger memories of these groundbreaking movies. It might also draw the reader's attention to films they might not have considered, such as Suddenly Last Summer, Lilting, The Naked Civil Servant, Victim, Parting Glances, and Get Real. Davies avoids academic jargon. Perhaps his book will encourage Murray to update his indispensable resource, spark a rereading of Russo's still-relevant book, or embolden another critic to compile a more in-depth history of LGBT cinema.