Queer Film Classics
Arsenal Pulp Press has launched a new series of books dedicated to examining films that fall under the "Queer Classic" designation. The series is projected to cover a total of 21 film titles; three books are expected to hit the shelves every year through 2015.
The films to be covered span 1950-2005, but this year’s trio of titles address a one film each from the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The earliest of the films to be examined by these three books is Trash (1970), the Andy Warhol-produced, Paul Morrissey-directed "middle chapter" of a trilogy starring Joe Dallesandro (set between Flesh and Heat). As such, author Jon Davies, a Toronto film critic and curator, deconstructs and analyzes the trilogy as a whole, and while the films are not specifically gay in content, they do feature transsexuals, most notably Holly Woodlawn. Moreover, Davies argues, the films borrow tone and style from gay porn movies of the time; then there’s the way the camera celebrates Dallesandro’s often bare flesh.
Davies delves behind the scenes, looking at the creative friction between Warhol and Morrissey--and Morrissey and the mise en scene in which he found himself working--and the full story of the film, from its weekend shooting schedule in Morriseey’s basement to the critical reviews it garnered, with plenty of pages devoted to a scene-by-scene synopsis and analysis.
A similar format is followed by emory university professor Jose Quiroga in his treatment of Pedro Almodóvar’s Law of Desire (1987), a comedy that turns out to be much deeper and culturally informed than American audiences might be prepared to appreciate, as Almodóvar pokes fun at the long dictatorial reign of Franco and takes what was, at the time, a fresh look at an emerging gay culture. The film’s twists and turns, the director’s bold color scheme, and the layers of meaning to be found in the film are meticulously detailed by Quiroga.
Perhaps the most personal--though no less academically rigorous--of the three titles is the examination of BIll Condon’s Gods and Monsters (1998), written by longtime cineaste and essayist Noah Tsika, who describes a childhood of avidly devouring films (he had parents associated with the film industry), with a special thrill reserved for gay movies like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and gay-coded films like Georgy Girl (whose Lynn Redgrave also had a role in Gods and Monsters). Tsika describes not only the film--in a layered, sometimes dense, examination--but also his own ambivalence toward it: Tsika admires the performances of stars Sir Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser, but he also finds the movie too "white" in the way any ethnic characters are scrubbed from both its roots in the life of gay film director James Whale and from the movie’s literary source, the Christopher Bram novel Father of Frankenstein. (Tsika also takes film critics as whole to task for their too-often superficial attempts to establish their own credibility.) A blend of fascinating personal tidbits and keenly defined insights, Tsika’s book may be a bit less personable than the others--Jon Davies is especially loose-limbed and conversational in writing Trash--but his mixed feelings give the book a feel of authenticity that goes beyond intellectual honesty and reaches emotional genuineness.
As a set, the three books are a resource for anyone interested in queer culture and a trove of lore for film fans gay or straight.
by Jose Quiroga, Jon Davies, Noah Tsika
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press. Publication Date: October 1, 2009. Format: Paperback Original.
Trash: Pages: 173. Price: $14.95. ISBN-13: 978-1-551-522-616
Law of Desire: Pages: 156. Price: $14.95. ISBN-13: 978-1-551-522-623
Gods and Monsters: Pages: 170. Price: $14.95. ISBN-13: 978-1-551-522-630
