- 2 months ago
Top 10 movies from the United Kingdom over the last few decades including Victim, Beautiful Thing, Maurice, My beautiful Laundrette. Great gay movies you are going to love to see.
Category
đŸ˜¹
FunTranscript
00:00Hi this is Steve from the Gay Dolls and today we're going to be looking at 10
00:04top English gay movies now these numbers are just in random they're not a top 10
00:24literally as we're counting down it's just 10 great films one of the first
00:29films off is number one is victim made in 1961 this British film was directed by
00:34Basil Dearden is pioneering work that deals with homosexuality and legal
00:38prosecution of gay men in England it premiered in the UK in August 1961 and in
00:44the USA the following February it was the first British film to explicitly name
00:49homosexuality and deal that sympathetically on its release in the
00:52United Kingdom it proved highly controversial to the British board of
00:56film censors and in the USA it was refused a seal of approval from the
01:00American motion picture production code despite this the film received a claim
01:04and is now regarded as a British classic as well as having been credited for
01:08liberalizing attitudes towards homosexuality in Great Britain gay sex
01:12between men was illegal in the UK in the 1960s and punishable by
01:16imprisonment the sexual offenses act of 1967 partially decriminalized it in
01:22England and Wales for men over 21 in private this film a successful barrister
01:27Melvin Farr has a thriving London practice he's on his course to become a
01:31Queen's counsel and people are already talking of him to be appointed a judge he's
01:35apparently happily married to his wife Laura Farr is approached by Jack boy
01:40Barrett a young working-class gay man with whom Farr has had a romantic
01:44relationship Farr rebuffs the approach thinking Barrett wants to blackmail him
01:48about their relationship and of course this film is really interesting and it's a
01:53great film so if you can catch Victim made in 1961 this one starred Dirk Bogart who of
01:59course himself was a closeted homosexual so quite an interesting film just even in that
02:03aspect
02:08is it Pesco yes we'd like a word about you're not your bad you knew of course he
02:14was a homosexual I had formed that umbrella offers unlimited opportunities
02:17blackmail I see Barrett that's not possible sir
02:22Barrett hanged himself in his cell this afternoon number two beautiful thing 1996 this
02:29British film directed by Hetty MacDonald explores the blossoming relationship between two teenage boys in a London housing estate
02:36the film was originally intended for television broadcast only but it was so
02:41well received that it was released cinema wide the main character Jamie is a
02:45teenager who is in love with his classmate Stu Jamie single mother Sandra is
02:50preoccupied with an ambitious plan to run her own pub and has ever-changing string of
02:55lovers the latest of these is Tony a neo-hippie slowly Stu accepts Jamie's love and their
03:01relationship develops as they visit a gay pub together Sandra follows them and discovers
03:06their secret this is a very interesting film because the characters in this film play out
03:11we are living in a housing estate where just gay people just not really accepted however it is
03:171996 so it does develop we have a next-door neighbor a young girl who is friend with Jamie and
03:24Sue and that does get everyone through this story so another great film it was very popular at the
03:31time I can remember this in the late 90s and just everyone was talking about beautiful thing
03:35he's Jamie he's having serious attitude problems with his mum Sandra this is Steve Jamie would like
03:42to be Steve's best mate your times I thought you might come around I was out all right what's weird
03:48about that I've been worried about you best mate and maybe a little bit more if you know what I
03:54mean
03:54I think I'll have two of you and ten of your mate I love number three is Morris made in
04:011987 this was
04:03adapted from the Ian Foster's novel this British film was directed by James Ivory and tells the story of a
04:08gay romance and Edwardian England this was a group of three films that were made by Merchant Ivory from
04:15E.M. Foster there is Room of the View Morris and Howard's End this film starred James Willoughby as
04:22Morris Hugh Grant as Clive and Rupert Grace as Alec the story follows the main character Morris Hall
04:27through university relationships and a struggle to fit into society and ultimately being united with
04:33his life partner years later in 1909 Morris is attending the University of Cambridge where he strikes
04:39up a friendship with two fellow students the Aristocat Viscount Risley and the rich and famous
04:45Clive Durham Clive falls in love with Morris and surprises him by confessing his feelings
04:49at first Morris reacts with horror but he soon realizes that he reciprocates Clive's feelings
04:55the two friends embark on a passionate love affair but at Clive's insistence their relationship remains
05:01non-sexual Morris the book was published in 1971 after the death of E.M. Foster the novel was
05:08controversial given Foster's homosexuality had not been known or widely acknowledged today's critics
05:14continued to argue over the extent into which Foster's sexuality and personal activities
05:19influenced his writing he was to have known to have many lovers later in life once he finally did
05:25embrace his gay life style this film of course is a beautiful period piece if you love those Room of
05:31the view Howard then down even Downton Abbey kind of films you will love Morris truly an outstanding film
05:39Have you been all right? Have you? No. You wrote that you were?
06:06Number four is My Beautiful Laundrette made in 1985 this was directed by Stephen Frears now this film is
06:14um absolutely amazing because homosexuality 1985 in a major release film this was really something I
06:22remember this at the time this is two years before Morris came out so this was view it's contemporary
06:28this film explores the relationship between a young British Pakistani man and a former school friend
06:34sent against the backdrop of social economic challenges in London what could be more crowd
06:39pleasing than a gay love story between a Pakistani immigrant and an ex-national front member not much
06:44in 1985 as it turned out this provocative drama proved to be a hit with both critics and cinema goers
06:50and help launch the career of Daniel Day-Lewis homosexuality is just one of the topics covered
06:55in this ambitious Oscar-nominated screenplay which also takes on racism culture clash and the state of
07:02Thatcher's Britain despite the prickly subject matter My Beautiful Laundrette is a testimony to the fact
07:07that the audience will respond to an unorthodox subject matter as long as the quality is there
07:13The beginning of a business empire It'll be going into profit any day now
07:21I don't want my son in this under Pat's cleaning condition David Denby of New York magazine calls
07:31it rambunctious juicy richly entertaining My Beautiful Laundrette is a work of substance
07:38number five is Sebastian made in 1976 directed by Derek Jarman now this was uh an underground sort
07:46of niche film that came out in the 70s I did not see this film probably until well into the
07:5180s but
07:52even then in the 80s you very rarely saw full frontal male nudes in any films this film however went
07:59way
08:00over the top with this and this was in 1976 this film explores the last days of Saint Sebastian the
08:06Christian martyr tortured and executed by bow and arrow during his banishment few films outside gay
08:12porn featured as much male flesh as in Sebastian the feature debut of Derek Jarman co-directed by Paul
08:19Humphreth it's a queer reimagining of these last days of Saint Sebastian while his fellow exiles fight
08:26fuck and frolic naked in the desert Sebastian resists such heterism and instead recites poetry praising God
08:33this leads to his violent death it's a real one-of-a-kind film and potentially clash of beauty
08:38and vulgarity all told with Latin dialogue Jarman would go on to become one of Britain's most exciting
08:45filmmakers of the 70s and 80s directing Jubilee which was a punk rock film in 1978 Caravago in 1986 and
08:52the last of England in 1987 he was really one of the first major gay directors I think that just
08:59put so
08:59much product out there and celebrated being gay
09:26number six is pride made in 2014 directed by Stephen Beresford
09:32this film was a very popular film in 2014 and it was a major wide release that was so popular
09:41it was great to see something to do with lesbian and gay activists that was such a big hit
09:46the film itself depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected
09:51by the British miners strike in 1984 this is the strike that went on during the Margaret Thatcher era
09:57and of course all of these mines were closed down across all of these towns across the UK and today
10:03it's really sad to think that all these towns are just left barren from the 80s right through to still
10:08now
10:09and the outset of what would become the lesbian and gay support the miners campaign it was based on a
10:14true story and depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected
10:19by the British miners in the strike in 1984 now of course what's funny about this is you do have
10:24a
10:24whole group of these crazy gay people who turn up in this small village talk about the only gay in
10:30the village now this was such a funny the reaction from the initial reaction from the town folk which
10:35was just hysterical until acceptance and then you know on with what's happening with the with the mines and
10:41the Margaret Thatcher story once again this is such a great film don't miss this it it's certainly funny
10:46and it gives you faith in humanity communities are being bullied just like we are what they need is cash
10:53yeah because the miners have always come to our aid haven't they it doesn't matter it's the
10:58die your gays have arrived all of gays and lesbians has come out in favor of the miners strike
11:05number seven is priests made in 1994 directed by antonio bird a roman catholic priest played by
11:12linus roach as he struggles with two major issues including homosexuality and a crisis of faith the
11:18film's release was controversial and relieved condemnation from the church father greg newly
11:23assigned to st mary's parish in inner city liverpool struggles with his gay urges especially after he meets
11:29a man named graham at a local gay hangout and the two embark on a physical relationship the film
11:35received very vocal condemnation from the church while the catholic church in ireland in particular
11:40calling for a ban on the theatrical distribution now this film it was a very interesting for once
11:45again made in 1994 dealing with homosexuality again uh there was uh quite a lot of on-screen lovemaking
11:54i guess i could have said gay sex so it would have been quite a shocker and this was released
11:59like a
12:00wide release film so in 1994 it was in all the cinema complexes in all of the malls around the
12:06world so and having their catholic priest uh having all of these issues i mean if you're a gay man
12:11living
12:12and living today you would realize that you know priests are no different to anybody else and everyone
12:16has urges but of course back in those days the church was a lot stronger and and it really made
12:22a
12:22big effect and i remember reading so many stories about this this film i did enjoy it uh it's a
12:27great film uh if you
12:29can catch it on uh dvd or streaming i will look into that and leave some notes down the bottom
12:34as to
12:34whether it is available is available to stream i love you
13:12number eight is prick up your ears made in 1987 directed by stephen frears who as i mentioned
13:19earlier did my beautiful laundrette this film is a biographical drama focusing on the life and
13:24relationship of british playwright joe orton and his partner kenneth halliwell the film opens in
13:29islington on the 9th of august 1967 where literal agent peggy ramsey knocks on the door of playwright
13:35joe orton and his lover kenneth halliwell but nobody opens she calls the police and they find the corpses
13:41of the two men a decade later a theater critic john la visits peggy ramsey because he wants to write
13:47orton's biography and they find joe orton's diaries and peggy tells la about orton's wife now this is a
13:53great film uh you it it's funny uh it's very camp and of course it does have a dramatic ending
14:00with
14:00the death of both of them but it does feature a lot of english people from that time like the
14:06kenneth william crowd everyone going to morocco just to have sex with as many boys as they can
14:12a lot of cottaging going on in london and celebrating joe orton's plays like loot entertaining
14:18mr sloan what the butler saw which are still playing to end revived all of the time these
14:24days they are always such outrageous comedies they usually always feature some sort of male nudity
14:29and if you can catch one of these plays do now prick up your ears came out in 1987 as
14:33i said
14:34this one was another gay biography film that featured gay sex and some nudity so it was quite
14:41interesting and it was mainstream the critics i think loved this film gary oldman was incredible as
14:47joe orton and so outrageous and what i didn't say at the beginning it does go back and talk about
14:52his
14:52childhood and how he ends up in london and becomes a playwright so there's a lot of story here so
14:57you will love this one what happens if we split up i taught you i taught you too what how
15:04to go into
15:04a public laboratory i knew nothing at all about him the first time you walked in hello 1964 he said
15:12next
15:12time can i bring my friend which was quite bold in those days i'm joe orton's friend as if it's
15:18a
15:18profession it's the dark ages men and men and they could still put you in prison for it he's probably
15:23a policeman i know isn't he wonderful number nine is clapham junction this was made in 2007 directed by
15:31kevin elliott who also directed my night with bridge this film centers on the experience of several gay
15:37men during a 36-hour period in the clapham area of london and the consequences when their lives collide
15:43from a civil partnership ceremony to a heated dinner party five stories are woven into a london from
15:50school to work to bars to clubs during one hot summer night the film opens with the audio of the
15:56weather report highlighting a current heat wave the drama was shown as a part of a short season by
16:01channel four to mark the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in england and
16:06wales the drama caused controversy and received mixed reaction particularly from gay viewers who
16:11felt it was a negative portrayal of gay men though some found it intelligent and thought provoking the
16:17characters in this are all quite different so you have like the aggressive gay man you have like the
16:23passive you've got the the wedding ceremony where one of the partners is having sex with a waiter
16:28it's a lot going on in this film there is a young boy in it who has an affair with
16:34a guy across the
16:35street who turned out to be some sort of sec on the sexual register or something and his
16:41mum and dad find out so there's a lot going on in this film i actually really really enjoyed it
16:46as
16:47it says it was made for tv but it was released on dvd we can look into finding where this
16:53is on the
16:53gaydolls.com i shall try and make some sort of list of all of these films as to where you
16:58can see them
16:58and or if you need to buy them on dvd once again clapham junction if you can catch it i
17:03have a
17:03feeling it is on youtube so check it out you will really enjoy this film will
17:11this ring is a token of my abiding love
17:17and a sign of the promise i make to you today are you married no i'm gay oh how nice
17:25as look at my boy again
17:31now number 10 is lilting made in 2014 this is a smaller film it was directed by hong kai who
17:39i know
17:39i pronounced that wrong but lilting tells the story of a mother's attempt at understanding
17:44who her son was after his untimely death her world is suddenly disrupted by the presence of lover played
17:51by ben wishhall who is just superb in this film together they attempt to overcome their grief
17:57while struggling against not being able to share the same language this film is just beautifully told
18:03i really really enjoyed it it's very very visual the love between these two guys is just beautiful
18:09and as it as i said before these untimely deaths does bring a close to that so don't miss lilting
18:16once
18:17again i will let you know how we can see this one on thegaydolls.com
18:20why have you come here
18:26if i knew she liked you it's a lot easier
18:33he was my only child he was my life he was my
18:38i tried telling her my heart was pounding so fast there have been so many significant english gay films
18:47during the 20th century and just to cover some of them here has been really great don't forget to
18:52visit us at thegaydolls.com where i will do um how you can view these 10 films whether they're available
18:57on streaming or dvd or how we can get to see them like i said with clap of junction still
19:03on youtube
19:03anyway this is steve from the gay dolls i hope you enjoyed today's podcast and i
19:08shall speak to you soon this is steve bye for now
19:10bye for now
19:10bye
Comments