Read the full article on Firstpost, here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/my-life-with-james-dean-queer-gaze-and-whether-cinema-should-be-categorised-into-inclusive-labels-5216091.html/
In the June 25 column, written on the occasion of Pride month, I wrote, “There are, of course, many filmmakers who are homosexual, but it’s interesting to explore whether this ‘gayness’ manifests itself in the films they make, and what really makes for a ‘gay film’. Is there a particular gay sensibility that’s manifest, even if the material is hetero-normative? Is it that the film has a gay protagonist, or is about LGBTQI issues?” And if the story would play just the same had the characters been straight, then is it really a ‘gay gaze’, or a ‘gay movie’?
As though by way of an answer, I received a screener of Dominique Choisy’s My Life with James Dean, a 2017 French film that premiered at Chéries-Chéris, the annual international LGBTQI film festival in Paris. Given the Supreme Court’s historic verdict on Section 377, it seemed a good time to talk about this film, and this issue. First, the premise. Géraud Champreux (Johnny Rasse), a gay filmmaker from Lyons, is invited to exhibit his film, titled My Life with James Dean, in three cinema houses around Normandy. At the first theatre, the usher seems unaware of any such screening. When Géraud tells him the name of his film, he asks, “A comedy?” Géraud says, “Not really.” The usher says, “No good. Only comedies work here. Or US action movies.”
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2018 Firstpost.
Sahir.
September 20, 2018
Interesting question: if a film about a gay couple were to feature a straight film, would it work differently? Take that gorgeous queer darling from last year, Call Me By Your Name – if it was Elio and, say, Adriana, would it have been different? I think not, except for that lovely scene in the end when Elio’s father tells him about this ‘friendship’, which I doubt he would’ve done had it been a straight fling his son had.
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ramitbajaj01
September 21, 2018
“if it was Elio and, say, Adriana, would it have been different?”
I guess yes. For one, Elio’s parents might not have asked Adriana to share room with Elio. Also, when Adriana would have touched Elio during volleyball match, Elio might not have brushed that off as accidental. And on Elio’s advances in the garden, Adriana could easily have gone with the flow. All these examples(and many more) lie at the core of the forbidden gay romance that CMBYN is.
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ramitbajaj01
September 21, 2018
I wonder if Weekend would have worked equally well if the protagonists were a straight couple. Sure, the movie has some pretty solid gay nuances, but many reviewers called the chemistry/story appeal universal, and I guess I agree. And despite its universal appeal, I guess it’s still very much a gay movie. The gaze (even if it had worked well with a straight couple) is pretty revolutionary, just for the mere existence of it in a homosexual couple.
So maybe, because we are in a transition period as of now, labelling movies as per their minority status helps- for the political and social statement this labelling makes. Once, things have been normalized (though never entirely), we could hope for an ideal scenario where the stories just are.
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ini
September 21, 2018
Firstly, I don’t think we have even come close to that point of normalization. Every time when I gush over a CMBYN or a Moonlight to someone, they are all ears and as soon as I tell them the plot, I can already hear the ‘Oh, it’s a gay film?’ I always have to end with a disclaimer that my recommendation was not because it was special to me as a gay man, but because it was just a good movie. Same happens when I have to sell Indian movies to my friends. On the other side – I am ashamed to admit – was a young ignorant me that passed over many a Spike Lee film just because it was “too black” for me. So, there’s nothing wrong in packaging these niche/minority films with an appeal to the mainstream. At least as of now. (I have even read reputed critics say things like ‘CMBYN does not have a shot at the Oscars, as they just gave one to the other gay movie.’)
Then comes the question, set in the ‘normalized’ future, whether we have to put these labels at all. Oh yes, we do. Like you say, there are always going to be areas of difference in these movies compared to the mainstream. Of course, there might not be the familiar coming out/forbidden love/AIDS trauma/shame, etc, stories in those films. But then, the sensibilities will always be very specific (for eg., a gay filmmaker’s gaze at the male form is very different from a female filmmaker’s). And I do hope we don’t homogenize these stories as movies will be super boring then.
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ini
September 22, 2018
By the way, I recently watched Kalyana Samayal Saadham. That scene where Raghu’s friend shows him some ‘friendship’ moments from Kaadhal Desam to test if he was gay was so funny. Was Kaadhal Desam our Tamil ‘queer’ gaze? Discuss.
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