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Polyester Hawks
Mar. 28th, 2009 07:21 pmI try to make a point each year of attending London's Lesbian & Gay (& Bisexual & Transgender) Film Festival. It feels really good to be in a large room filled with people on the same boat as you. Also, the organisers are pros at scheduling films that you can't watch or get anywhere else. This year was no different; I got tickets for Kevin, myself, Volodya and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amberholic to watch a 70s classic: Nighthawks, the first English film to openly deal with gay characters (and which now celebrates 30 years of existence.)
It's a low-budget film, caught in a time warp that makes some of its serious scenes laughable today, but which is also strangely mesmerising and hard to dislike (in a very Garth Merenghi sort of way). It's the story of a teacher who spends his spare time cruising bars and discos for love but never really getting beyond one-night stands (and a few half-hearted month-long relationships).
Afterwards, there was a Q & A with Matt Lucas (a big fan of the film, and responsible for it being re-released recently on DVD) and one of the film's writers, Paul Hallam. We found out that a few members of the audience had featured in the film's club scenes (the film makers used extras from the gay scene back then, including a hard to spot Derek Jarman); and that a sort of "Nighthawks" club existed from all the people still alive that participated in the film. There was some talk too about the accidental humour in the film and how a film like Milk should now be shown in schools so that gay teachers don't have to confront a hostile classrooms like the film's main character. Highlight of the Q & A wasamberholic asking Paul what had been the reaction of the gay community at the time. Divided, came his answer.
What caught my attention was the film's style. It has a soundtrack that doesn't sound like anything ever heard before or since, as Matt Lucas rightly said (very reminiscent of David Bowie's "Heroes" period I thought, with a dash of Gary Numan - and one character even looked like Brett Anderson circa early Suede); long camera shots that take on England's depressive and failed Empire look of the time (all those brown outfits, those dreary crumbling buildings); and not a single good looking person in sight! This last point was the most striking because it showed how much the gay community has changed, how smothered we are by images of perfect men and bodies, how there was once a time when the gay community was a sort of refugees club where nobody knew how to use hair conditioners or fuck like porn stars. Being gay back then wasn't fashionable, advisable, financially responsible, or anything else that many gay men like myself now take for granted. There was a constant threat to queers (though the film doesn't dwell much on that) so when they found themselves in an environment of their own, they let loose in an almost embarrassing (to us) way. AIDS was just around the corner.
Anyway, the DVD is now out there and you should check it out. You'll get a good dose of laughter from it and you'll also discover one of England's oddest gems.
amberholic to watch a 70s classic: Nighthawks, the first English film to openly deal with gay characters (and which now celebrates 30 years of existence.)It's a low-budget film, caught in a time warp that makes some of its serious scenes laughable today, but which is also strangely mesmerising and hard to dislike (in a very Garth Merenghi sort of way). It's the story of a teacher who spends his spare time cruising bars and discos for love but never really getting beyond one-night stands (and a few half-hearted month-long relationships).
Afterwards, there was a Q & A with Matt Lucas (a big fan of the film, and responsible for it being re-released recently on DVD) and one of the film's writers, Paul Hallam. We found out that a few members of the audience had featured in the film's club scenes (the film makers used extras from the gay scene back then, including a hard to spot Derek Jarman); and that a sort of "Nighthawks" club existed from all the people still alive that participated in the film. There was some talk too about the accidental humour in the film and how a film like Milk should now be shown in schools so that gay teachers don't have to confront a hostile classrooms like the film's main character. Highlight of the Q & A was
amberholic asking Paul what had been the reaction of the gay community at the time. Divided, came his answer.What caught my attention was the film's style. It has a soundtrack that doesn't sound like anything ever heard before or since, as Matt Lucas rightly said (very reminiscent of David Bowie's "Heroes" period I thought, with a dash of Gary Numan - and one character even looked like Brett Anderson circa early Suede); long camera shots that take on England's depressive and failed Empire look of the time (all those brown outfits, those dreary crumbling buildings); and not a single good looking person in sight! This last point was the most striking because it showed how much the gay community has changed, how smothered we are by images of perfect men and bodies, how there was once a time when the gay community was a sort of refugees club where nobody knew how to use hair conditioners or fuck like porn stars. Being gay back then wasn't fashionable, advisable, financially responsible, or anything else that many gay men like myself now take for granted. There was a constant threat to queers (though the film doesn't dwell much on that) so when they found themselves in an environment of their own, they let loose in an almost embarrassing (to us) way. AIDS was just around the corner.
Anyway, the DVD is now out there and you should check it out. You'll get a good dose of laughter from it and you'll also discover one of England's oddest gems.
