Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

The fact that this film came out back in 1978 in itself is a big surprise to me. Sure, from a story perspective there may not be much going here, but again the fact that the film was made years ago is HUGE deal. The life of gays and transvestites portrayed with empathy in a comedy that has Bent, a factory worker, as its main protagonist. We meet his mother, who makes no bones about having always wished for a daughter rather than a son; his closet days at work; and his let-it-all-hang-out off hours with kind. Brent, an aging gay man is the main protagonist of the story. He is a huge fan of his mother, whose used to be a famous artist and is now on death bed with cancer. He has lived in the shadow of his famous mother all his life, and is constantly trying to survive and find out who he really is by stealing and doing odd jobs here and there. Along the way, we meet his group of eccentric and quirky friends, who might be a bit more colorful than most people. A woman friend who runs a bar,...

I can't believe that this film back in 1978. A daring film by standards of the time, this film offers a portrait of Spanish society after the death of dictator Franco, during the transition to democracy, using the central theme of secret homosexual life of a prominent member of the Spanish communist party. And how this information makes him vulnerable to exploitation by the Fascist opposition. It's an interesting mixture of political themes and the outsider status of a gay man, who can only exist in a sordid underworld culture. The story is actually simple. Roberto is a prominent politician on rise. We are told that he knew he was gay since he was a teenager but when he was in military, he met his current wife Carmen and told himself that maybe he is bi and actually could be happy. Apparently Carmen knows about his past. Once when he was in prison, Roberto had met young rent boy Ned, and both of them continued their relationship. Somehow Fascist party finds about this and they ...

An unusual film, this was probably way ahead of its time when it came out in 1978. This is not a gay film per say, but given that one of the leads is gay man and the film talks about homophobia to some extent, makes it a good candidate for it to be reviewed here. Mostly this film is about being a macho guy, greed, family honor, homophobia all rolled into one. The film is set in a very small town of Mexico where we meet some interesting characters. Rich and elderly congressman Don Alejo is poised to sell the town for a profit,, the only thing missing is a whorehouse to close the deal. It is owned by an aging gay man Manuela, who cross dresses to perform dance and his daughter. Another important character is Pancho. Don Alejo tries to control him because he owes him money, but also Pancho had a bog fight with Manuela a year ago and Manuela is very scared of him. He wants to sell whore house and move away from the town but the daughter will have none of it. Through flashbacks we see how M...

I can't imagine what it would have been like in 1978 to have a film about a gay man and a lesbian woman eventually falling in love and marrying. In today's time, it would be a scandal because it would probably be considered as "fixing" the gay disease. Having said that , watching a 40 year old film today does bring an interesting perspective. Handsome young gay man Albert has been lover of a successful pianist who dumps him when he find s a new lover. Stella, who happens to be the rich man's agent offers Albert to stay one night at her place when she finds him homeless. She leaves next day expecting him to leave, but instead he is ready with a fantastic dinner. Without verbally acknowledging it, they agree that Albert can stay longer and perform domestic duties while Stella continues working. Stella has a steady girlfriend and eventually Albert also finds a new rich older guy, but they stay together since they have become very good friends. One day when immigratio...

This film is an escape to a time lost forever. A film about life, misery, love, happiness, achievement, sex and about understanding. This film takes you into the lives of young teenage kids in a boarding school and their everyday lives and mischiefs and their daily dealings with their situations. It is wrong to put this film as a gay cinema because although it does explore homosexuality in growing teens with sensitivity, it is just another aspect of the film. That itself does not make the film. Bo is a 15 year-old boy who finds himself smitten with Kim, who is younger and extremely handsome. Bo lives in boarding school with some other friends who all have some or the other individual stories going for them. Kim more than reciprocates Bo's interest and they eventually end up becoming good friends. Kim is the son of school principal. Aske puts the educational system in the limelight and leads the rest to discover why young people can think and do. Bo is a good friend who will always ...

I guess in 1978 this film was relevant but in today's time when you get to see so many more relevant and issue based gay films, this film just serves as a mere time filler with nothing exciting to offer. Or maybe for a young man like me, I just cant appreciate the cinema of those years.  Set in London, Jim is a 30ish geography teacher. He is an out gay man to any adult with an interest and quietly non-descript to the rest, including his parents. Th film follows his life and daily routine which involves teaching in the school, hanging out with a female teacher in school whom he eventually comes out to and various men he tries to date in the clubs that he often visits.  There is nothing more to his in this movie. The only scene that stands out is when his students ask him about him being gay and he rather than being ashamed of it turns it into a sex education session. The movie just ends like this with his daily routine. I honestly still can't relate to the movie as I am writin...