Tag: Lesbian cinema

Female Characters, LGBTQ Cinema

Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Mulholland Drive

Nearly two decades since its release, “Mulholland Drive” (2001) remains a Rubik’s cube of plot twists and turns. No matter how many contradictory analyses have attempted to explain what it is actually about, there is no arguing that it is a masterful depiction of LGBTQ love and desire. All the quirks and oddities of a Lynch production are present but do not overwhelm what is basically a story of passion and loss, told from a woman’s point of view. Continue reading Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Mulholland Drive

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Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ Cinema, Retrospect Reviews

Pride Month, Retrospective Review: “But I’m a Cheerleader”

Do you ever remember watching a movie when you were younger and thinking, “Oh. My worldview is about to be drastically changed by this piece of art”? Well, that’s how I felt upon my first viewing of Jamie Babbit’s satirical romantic comedy “But I’m a Cheerleader” (1999). Continue reading Pride Month, Retrospective Review: “But I’m a Cheerleader”

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LGBTQ Cinema, Retrospect Reviews

Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Carol

There’s just something about “Carol” (2015). Not just the mature storytelling, or the strong direction from Todd Haynes, or even the film’s beautiful and stylish design. Those are all contributing factors to the film’s resonance, but, what really captures the spirit, is the magnetism between our two leads: Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Based on the novel The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith, and intelligently adapted to the screen by Phyllis Nagy, “Carol” is another intimate LGBTQ story that is required viewing. Continue reading Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Carol

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Female Filmmaker, LGBTQ Cinema, Retrospect Reviews

“That Flooding Rush:” the Ebb and Flow of Below Her Mouth

James Joyce’s final chapter of Ulysses — a wonderfully difficult piece of fiction from the early twentieth century — features the wave-like storytelling, the continual up and down, that Joyce thought mirrored the April Mullenfemale orgasm. It is told in the thoughts and feelings of Molly Bloom, finishing this eighteen-chapter saga as a woman’s story. Continue reading “That Flooding Rush:” the Ebb and Flow of Below Her Mouth

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Female Filmmaker, Female Writer, LGBTQ Cinema

Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Tell It to the Bees

Have you ever encountered a film in which its ending spoils everything about the viewing experience for you? Well, this was my experience watching “Tell It to the Bees” a film which I enjoyed a good proportion of the first and second act, only to have my investment and enjoyment of the film be completely ruined by its final act. Matters were made worse when I read up on the book and how drastically the film’s end differs compared to the actual book’s ending. Continue reading Pride Month, Retrospective Review: Tell It to the Bees

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Female Filmmaker, Film Reviews, LGBTQ Cinema, World Cinema

Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

This is the female gaze like you’ve never seen it before. “Portrait”–a film set in Brittany, France in the 18th century–is a showcase of how the depths of insight and poignancy in a work of art comes as a result of the artist having a deep, loving, obsessive understanding of their subject. It is a film about two women on an island with hardly anyone else around them and the painfully, yet deliciously slow romance that materializes from a connection of their minds, bodies, and souls.

The film is thematically rich and daring, yet never once seeks to shove a message or agenda down your throat; it’s a love story, plain and simple. Writer/director Céline Sciamma clearly isn’t interested in subverting history in an effort to appease the needs of a contemporary audience–yet in spite of that, this is a film brimming with human truths. It is reminiscent of the underpinnings and themes found Greek and Gothic literature and poetry. Tender, yet complex and multifaceted–this is in no way a political film, but rather, a subtle social commentary on the kinds of job opportunities available to women in the 18th century. Continue reading Review: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

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