Top 10 gay movies

By A.L. Harper

Jeffrey

This hilarious tongue-in-cheek movie is about a man dealing with his fear of intimacy, commitment and AIDS. Jeffrey swears off sex just before meeting the man of his dreams. What follows is a Carry On-esque rom-com that is tender and entertaining, particularly if you like kitsch.

Boys Don’t Cry

Based on one of the most heinous hate crimes in modern US history, Boys Don’t Cry, is the Academy award winning independent film about the last few months of transsexual Brandon.

Teena’s life.

Murdered in Lincoln, Nebraska because he was born a woman, Teena was subjected to bulling, terrorising and a violent rape before he was shot along with several of his friends. Hilary Swank won the Oscar for her performance as Brandon Teena.

My Own Private Idaho

This critically acclaimed film charts the life of two rent-boys, played to perfection by Keanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix – in what would turn out to be his magnum opus. Mike (Phoenix) and Scott (Reeves) are hustling their way across the US and eventually to Italy, with Mike looking for family and Scott running away from family. It is widely believed that Phoenix became addicted to drugs while filming My Own Private Idaho, which would eventually lead to his untimely death.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of the Desert

This camp classic about two men and a transsexual woman (all drag queens) travelling through the Australian outback, in a bus called Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, is deceptive in its flippancy. What is, on the surface a fun and frolicsome story of three outrageous characters, is really the story of three hollow and frail individuals looking for love and acceptance, in all the wrong places.

C.R.A.Z.Y.

Coming of age in the 1970s wasn’t easy for any gay man, but Zac Beaulieu was also the fifth son of a French-Canadian catholic. C.R.A.Z.Y. is an exploration of love of all sorts, but mainly the love of a father for his sons and the love of a son for his father. It’s also a tale of a boy/man learning to accept himself and eventually being accepted by the people he loves most.

Beautiful Thing

This beautiful urban fairytale is more than just your usual coming-to-terms fare. Beautiful Thing is the sober story of two young lads growing up on an inner city council estate in South East London. This film challenges many stereotypes, pushing the boundaries of what many people think a gay man should act like, dress like, and come from. Think gay in the hood.

Maurice

Based on the novel by E.M. Forster, Maurice tells the story of homosexual love in Edwardian England, and follows the love affair between Maurice and Alec. After a long monogamous, primarily chaste relationship at university with Clive (played by a very young Hugh Grant), an uptight man deeply in denial, Maurice meets Alec; a beautiful, young gamekeeper on a friend’s estate. This film is a wonderful love story to be enjoyed in the arms of your favourite hunk.

Philadelphia

Inspired by the true story Geoffrey Bowers. A New York man sues his former employer for breeching his civil rights, after being dismissed because he had AIDS. However the story is more about the relationship of the main characters, the gay AIDS infected man Andrew Beckett (played by Tom Hanks) and his homophobic personal injury lawyer Joe Miller (played by Denzel Washington). While on the surface the story is about Beckett’s wrongful dismissal, the underlying and more powerful theme is acceptance by Miller of Beckett as a man worth fighting for.

Bent

After living a decadent life in 1930s Berlin, Max (Clive Owen) is arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau. Believing that he will fare better in a concentration camp if the Nazis believe he is Jewish rather than gay Max lies, so as not to be assigned the pink triangle that denotes homosexuality, saying he is Jewish and is forced to prove he isn’t gay by fucking a dead girl. It is in the concentration camp that Max meets openly gay Horst (Lothaire Bluteau). The star-crossed lovers strike up a friendship/love affair that would never end well. Think a gay Schindler’s List, without the list.

Brokeback Mountain

Easily one of the most widely known and watched gay themed films of all time. A story of the love that grows between two cowboys – played ever so convincingly by Heath Ledger (Ennis del Mar) and Jake Gyllanhall (Jack Twist) – the film follows them through their clandestine relationship spanning 20 years from 1963 to 1983. Both married to women, they meet-up every few months to go “fishing” but it’s not enough for Twist who urges del Mar to runaway with him. Ennis resists fearing homophobic retribution from within the cowboy community. However he eventually realises what he feels is real love but too late as Jack has died tragically. The first time a Hollywood blockbuster has treated homosexuality as normal and acceptable.