//

50 Essential LGBT Films

You won’t find The Birdcage among our ranks, but you will find Paul Morrissey’s Trash.

50 Essential LGBT Films

You’ve sported a red equal sign on Facebook, watched Nancy Pelosi show Michele Bachmann her politically correct middle finger, and read some of those other lists that have compiled lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) films, hailing usual suspects like High Art and Brokeback Mountain as gay equivalents of Vertigo (oh, don’t Citizen Kane me; we’re talking regime upheaval here). Now, as you continue to celebrate the crushing of DOMA and Prop 8 (and toss some extra confetti for Pride Month while you’re at it), peruse Slant’s own list of LGBT movies you owe it to yourself to see. Curated by co-founder and film editor Ed Gonzalez, this 50-wide roster is a singular trove of queer-themed gems and classics, spanning the past eight decades and reflecting artists as diverse as Kenneth Anger, Derek Jarman, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. You won’t find The Birdcage among our ranks, but you will find Paul Morrissey’s Trash, Ira Sach’s The Delta, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, and Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy. Consider the list a hat tip to what’s shaped up to be a banner LGBT year, particularly on screen, with lesbian romance Blue Is the Warmest Color taking top honors at Cannes, and Xavier Dolan releasing the masterful Laurence Anyways, which also made our cut. R. Kurt Osenlund


The Blood of a Poet

The Blood of a Poet (Jean Cocteau, 1932)



Fireworks

Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947)



Un Chant d'Amour

Un Chant d’Amour (Jean Genet, 1950)



Rebel Without a Cause

Rebel Without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955)



Flaming Creatures

Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith, 1963)



The Servent

The Servant (Joseph Losey, 1963)



Scorpio Rising

Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1964)



My Hustler

My Hustler (Andy Warhol and Chuck Wein, 1965)



Teorema

Teorema (Pier Paolo Passolini, 1968)



Trash

Trash (Paul Morrissey, 1970)


Death in Venice

Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971)



Sunday Bloody Sunday

Sunday Bloody Sunday (John Schlesinger, 1971)



The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)



Female Trouble

Female Trouble (John Waters, 1974)



Fox and His Friends

Fox and His Friends (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975)



Je, Tu, Il, Elle

Je, Tu, Il, Elle (Chantal Akerman, 1976)



In a Year of 13 Moons

In a Year of 13 Moons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978)



Querelle

Querelle (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1982)



The Times of Harvey Milk

The Times of Harvey Milk (Rob Epstein, 1984)



My Beautiful Laundrette

My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1985)


Law of Desire

Law of Desire (Pedro Almodóvar, 1987)



Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1998)



Tongues Untied

Tongues Untied (Marlon Riggs, 1989)



The Garden

The Garden (Derek Jarman, 1990)



Paris Is Burning

Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)



Madonna: Truth or Dare

Madonna: Truth or Dare (Alek Keshishian, 1991)



My Own Private Idaho

My Own Private Idaho (Gus Van Sant, 1991)



The Crying Game

The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)



The Living End

The Living End (Gregg Araki, 1992)



The Long Day Closes

The Long Day Closes (Terence Davies, 1992)


Blue

Blue (Derek Jarman, 1993)



Totally F***ed Up

Totally F***ed Up (Gregg Araki, 1993)



Beautiful Thing

Beautiful Thing (Hettie Macdonald, 1996)



The Delta

The Delta (Ira Sachs, 1996)



Happy Together

Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai, 1997)



Those Who Love Me Take the Train

Those Who Love Me Take the Train (Patrice Chéreau, 1998)



Beau Travail

Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)



Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999)



Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)



Son Frère

Son Frère (Patrice Chéreau, 2003)


Bad Education

Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar, 2004)



Tropical Malady

Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)



The Raspberry Reich

The Raspberry Reich (Bruce La Bruce, 2004)



The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Auraeus Solito, 2005)



Two Drifters

Two Drifters (João Pedro Rodrigues, 2005)



Mysterious Skin

Mysterious Skin (Gregg Araki, 2004)



The Bubble

The Bubble (Eytan Fox, 2006)



In the Family

In the Family (Patrick Wang, 2011)



Tomboy

Tomboy (Céline Sciamma, 2011)



Laurence Anyways

Laurence Anyways (Xavier Dolan, 2012)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.