3 Essential Queer Films to Add to Your Watchlist
Happy Pride, everyone! This June, I've started a new tradition to watch more queer films. Whether the plot or the writers identify as queer themselves, I wanted to highlight cinema that celebrates the vast experiences of a community that I am incredibly proud to be part of. Here are five potential deep cuts to round out your Pride Month. Slight plot spoilers ahead!
Stranger by the Lake (2013) dir. Alain Guiraudie
Erotic Thriller
Set on a popular rocky lakeside cruising spot in France, the story is told through Franck’s eyes as he befriends a lonely older man named Henri and becomes infatuated with the handsome Michel. While Franck is cruising late at night, he witnesses Michel murdering his boyfriend in the lake. Despite seeing this, Franck continues to pursue Michel romantically. A police investigation emerges and a detective starts questioning each of the men by the lake, “You have a strange way of loving each other. One of yours gets murdered and you keep fucking.” to which Franck replies, “We can’t stop living.”
Stranger by the Lake is a quiet, minimalist film with no music; the gaps between dialogue are filled by crashing waves and rustling leaves. The confrontation of male sexuality, the quietness between scenes, and the foliage that surrounds the men offers the viewpoint that male homosexuality is natural. Cruising is an essential gay pastime, and gay men will continue to live their lives despite the world’s obstacles.
Adolescence of Utena (1999) dir. Kunihiko Ikuhara
Fantasy, Romance
Is it a sequel to the series? A prequel? A retelling of the anime? Who knows! Adolescence of Utena follows the anime series, Revolutionary Girl Utena, which is the story of teenage Utena Tenjou, a girl who wears a boy's uniform at her new school, Ohtori Academy. Utena quickly enters the world of sword dueling, the “prize” for winning the duels being engaged to the “Rose Bride”, Anthy Himemiya, Utena’s classmate. Being with Anthy, the bearer of the Rose Bride, can “revolutionize the world.”
This film is riddled with visual metaphors and commentary on fairy tales, subverting the heteronormative stories we were privy to from a young age. Can a girl be a prince? Why must a prince always save a princess? Can a princess save herself? The anime series, as well as the film, had a profound impact on me in realizing my queer identity (so impactful that I got my first tattoo to mark my 25th birthday: the sword of the femme lesbian duelist, Juri Arisugawa). Seeing gender and sexuality addressed in such an abstract yet complex manner was liberating.
Mulholland Dr. (2001) dir. David Lynch
Neo-Noir, Romance, Horror
Last but not least: my favorite film of all time. Lesbian crashouts, dreams, and a stinky rotting corpse of a mysterious woman are all rolled into this surrealist masterpiece from the late, great American auteur, David Lynch. The film follows Rita, a woman who nearly avoids a tragic death when her limo crashes on the windy Mulholland Drive. As a result of the trauma, she becomes amnesiac. She encounters Betty, an aspiring actress fresh off her LAX flight, and the two try to figure out who exactly “Rita” is and why she has stacks of cash and a mysterious blue key in her purse.
I went into this movie completely blind at the ripe age of nineteen and had to rewatch it in less than 24 hours to make sure I didn’t make up this movie in my head. This was my first entry into Lynch’s catalog, and it truly changed my approach to engaging with and creating art. I didn’t think it was possible to create a piece of work that could revel in the ugliness of heartbreak and struggling with your identity, all while entrusting the viewer to come to their own revelations of each character and their actions. While a certain level of nastiness and horror is shown on screen, you can also feel the love Lynch has for women, and the delicacy with which he grapples with such complex women and their relationships with one another.
