This superb film about a young Roman Catholic priest, torn apart by the conflict between his devout, deeply committed Christian faith and his homosexuality, remains by far the best I have ever seen, of its genre. The film accurately portrays that conflict with profound insight. Moreover, thankfully this Dutch DVD version is uncut (unlike the US DVD version) so the sensitively portrayed love scene and others are left intact. It is really good news that this important film is now available on DVD without being censored, even though the actual picture quality is hardly better than the original videotape.
Since the film was released in 1994, Western society has moved on significantly in becoming much more accepting of love between gay people and committed relationships. Unfortunately the RC Church along with many evangelical Protestant churches have not. On the contrary, many have become more conservative than ever; so the deep inner conflicts remain for many gay Christian people, who find no help from the traditional Churches and still encounter much hostility and outright rejection from their fellow Christians. For anyone wishing to understand why that conflict still exists and remains so strong in the 21st Century, this must-see film helps to illustrate the reasons for those conflicts. But in any case it is well worth seeing just as a beautiful story of love between two gay men in a hostile world.
Writer: Jimmy McGovern
Cast: Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Robert Carlyle Director: Antonio Bird Language:Publisher: , Year:
Definitive extended edition of Channel 4's controversial drama series. Stuart Jones (Aidan Gillen) and Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly) are gay friends living in Manchester. Both 29 years of age, they are beginning to question the direction their lives are taking when they meet wild 15-year-old Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam) who shakes up their world with his arrival on the scene.
'It's hard to believe that 15 years have past since this was first shown on Channel 4 and yet remains so vivid in the mind. Series 1 was a classic and groundbreaking at the time for a television series and, although series 2 was a bit of a cash in, it was still pretty good.
Cast: Aidan Gillen, Craig Kelly, Charlie Hunnam, Denise Black, Jason Merrells Director: Charles McDougall, Sarah Harding Language: english
Publisher: Channel 4 DVD, Year: 1999
The first and only film shot entirely in subtitled Latin, Sebastiane is Derek Jarman's first work as a director (though he shared the job with the less well-known Paul Humfress) and is a strange combination of gay nudie movie, pocket-sized Ancient Roman epic and meditation upon the image of Saint Sebastian. It opens with the Lindsay Kemp dance troupe romping around with huge fake phalluses to represent the Ken Russell-style decadence of the court of the Emperor Diocletian in AD 303, then decamps to Tuscany as Diocletian's favourite guard Sebastian (Leonardo Treviglio) is demoted to ordinary soldier and dispatched to a backwater barracks because the Emperor (Robert Medley) suspects him of being a covert Christian. The bulk of the film consists of athletic youths in minimal thongs romping around the countryside, soaking themselves down between bouts of manly horseplay or sylvan frolic. It all comes to a bad end as the lecherous but guilt-ridden commanding officer Severus (Barney James) fails to cop off with Sebastian and instead visits floggings and tortures upon his naked torso, finally ordering his men to riddle the future saint with arrows, thus securing him a place in cultural history. The public schoolboy cleverness of scripting dialogue in Latin--a popular soldier's insult is represented by the Greek "Oedipus"--works surprisingly well, with the cast reeling off profane Roman dialogue as if it were passionate Italian declarations rather than marbled classical sentences. The film suffers from the not-uncommon failing that the best-looking actor is given the largest role but delivers the weakest performance: Treviglio's Sebastian is a handsome cipher, far less interesting than the rest of the troubled, bullying, awkward or horny soldiers in the platoon. Peter Hinwood, famous for the title role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, can be glimpsed in the palace orgy. The countryside looks as good as the cast, and Brian Eno delivers an evocative, ambient-style score. - Kim Newman
Cast: Barney James, Neil Kennedy, Leonardo Treviglio, Richard Warwick, Donald Dunham Director: Derek Jarman, Paul Humfress Language: Latin with english subtitles
Publisher: Second Sight, Year: 1976
Twenty-two year old David has it all he s young, hot, and he s just got into the prestigious dance school of his dreams. But he has a secret: for two years he s been sleeping with his sister s husband, Jules. After an argument between the two lovers, David throws himself into a one-night stand with Sam, a casual encounter which fast becomes something much stronger.
Unable to express his feelings to anyone, Jules is slowly driven mad by his secret desire for David, and jealous of his new found, public relationship. When David s sister, Jane, insists he brings his new boyfriend over for dinner, Jules snaps, revealing in turn a secret which none of them can ignore.
Cast: Daniel Brocklebank, Suzanne Collins, Jonny Labey Director: Leon Lopez Language: English
Publisher: Saffron Hill, Year: 2015
Singer Murray Head is the bisexual lover to both Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch's Jewish homosexual doctor in this dramatic portrayal of middle-class life and permissive love in the 1970s.
Cast: Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson, Murray Head, Peggy Ashcroft, Tony Britton Director: John Schlesinger Language: english
Publisher: Optimum Home Releasing, Year: 1971
Comedy-thriller about two gay scouse teenagers who witness a murder at a club called the Fruit Machine and flee to Brighton. Robbie Coltrane appears as an oversized drag queen called Annabelle.
Cast: Emile Charles, Tony Forsyth, Robert Stephens, Clare Higgins, Bruce Payne, Robbie Coltrane Director: Philip Saville Language: english
Publisher: Network, Year: 1987
Bittersweet drama based on the novel by David Leavitt. When Philip (Angus MacFadyen) falls in love with the wealthy and manipulative American Elliot (Corey Parker) and decides to come out of the closet, his friends are supportive and positive. But when he comes out to his parents, he stirs up a maelstrom of hidden feelings and secrets that threaten to destroy their marriage.
Cast: Brian Cox, Rene Auberjonois, John Schlesinger Director: Nigel Finch Language: english
Publisher: Cinema Club, Year: 1991
Classic TV drama which traces the life of the flamboyant British eccentric Quentin Crisp as he grows up in a society not prepared to accept his openly homosexual lifestyle. A landmark of British television, this adaptation of Crisp's autobiography earned BAFTAs for both its star, John Hurt, and director, Jack Gold.
Cast: John Rhys-Davies, John Hurt, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Stanley Lebor, Katharine Schofield Director: Jack Gold Language: english
Publisher: Network, Year: 1975
A one-night stand that becomes something more - an unconventional love story between two young men trying to make sense of their lives.
On a Friday night after hanging out with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a nightclub, alone and on the pull. Just before closing time he picks up Glen. And so begins a weekend - in bars and in bedrooms, getting drunk and taking drugs, telling stories and having sex that will resonate throughout their lives.
Dramatisation of the fall from grace of author Oscar Wilde. Wilde (Stephen Fry) returns from a successful 1882 lecture tour of America to wed Constance Lloyd (Jennifer Ehle). However, he admits to himself that he is really attracted to men, and embarks on an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law), known as 'Bosie'. Although winning critical success with 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', Wilde's homosexuality looks set to land him in hot water with strict Victorian society.
Cast: Stephen Fry, Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave, Jennifer Ehle, Gemma Jones Director: Brian Gilbert Language: English
Publisher: Universal Pictures UK, Year: 1997
