Screen Queens: Best of the Gay Aughts

MattCanada here with a bit of an overview and Best-Of Gay films for the last decade.

Gay cinema over the last ten years has been intrinsically tied to both the political gains made by gay activists and the intense battles surrounding everything from the worldwide fight for gay marriage to nationally specific issues like America's DADT and DOMA, and Britain's repeal of Section 28. The relationship between the political and the cinematic is always most pronounced in the medium's relationship to minority groups and their texts.

The Aughts have seen gay-rights become the most visible"social values" issue in America, and this has been reflected in a number of high profile American films dealing frankly, sexually, and politically with what it means to be gay in America. Milk, Far From Heaven, and Mysterious Skin employ gay filmmaking traditions, like those of Affirmation Documentaries (Richard Dyer's term), Sirkian melodrama, and New Queer Cinema, to examine the complexity of gay male American history.

Brokeback Mountain, in terms of cultural and critical impact, deserves to be in a category all its own. It is the defining film in the gay canon, one that has become The Gay Film to which everything else, before or since, is compared. Its mainstream success can be partially attributed to its de-gaying through the clever marketing technique of calling it a 'universal love story'. However, without a doubt, it lost the Oscar as a result of latent homophobia within what is generally perceived to be the liberal media elite. All in all, the visibility of male homosexuality in American cinema over the last decade seemed at an all time high.

a small sampling of important gay auteurs in the Aughts:
Eytan Fox, François Ozon, "Joe" Weerasethakul and Todd Haynes

Internationally gay film has continued to flourish, especially with the arthouse approved gay auteurs, the most notable being Pedro Almodóvar, Francois Ozon, Eytan Fox, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Brillante Mendoza. For me personally the biggest joy has been watching Quebec, or maybe more appropriately Montreal, become a mecca for intelligent, entertaining, and daring gay filmmaking, especially Jean-Marc Vallee's C.R.A.Z.Y, and Xavier Dolan's I Killed My Mother. English language Canada has not had the same high-profile successes, but has continued to see good work from the always intelligent and challenging John Greyson, as well as provocateur Bruce LaBruce.

Documentary cinema has continued to be an area where a multitude of disparate perspectives on gay life can be presented, and Paragraph 175, Tarnation (mentioned in an amazing post here the other day), Camp Out, Small Town Gay Bar, A Jihad For Love, For the Bible Told Me So, and Outrage have been a few of the breakout examples.

Finally, Latter Days and Shelter (previous post) have been two noteworthy gay film fest hits that became big successes within the gay community this decade. Their rankings at number 3 and 2 respectively on AfterElton.com's 50 Best Gay Films Ever speaks to this popularity, and while I can respect the latter, I think the former is just about the worst gay film I have ever seen.

So, here are my personal top 10 of the last decade:

10 Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom
Gay cinema is dominated by white men, white stars, and white standards of beauty. That is why it is great to see a film dealing with issues surrounding African-American gays and their different positioning within straight hegemony and dominant (re: white) gay culture. Hopefully this film's success will spur gay cinema to be more inclusive and ethnically pluralistic. This film is a lot of fun and provides a great showcase for a very talented cast.

09 Before Night Falls
Javier Bardem plays gay! Johnny Depp does drag!

08 I Killed My Mother
Innovative debut by Montrealer Xavier Dolan who at 18 astoundingly wrote, produced, starred in, and directed this film. There are flaws, but everything is worth it for the film's stylistic flourishes and the lead performance by Anne Dorval. (full review)

07 For the Bible Tells Me So
One of the best documentaries of the decade, and crucial viewing for anyone who wants to understand the intersection of Christianity and homosexuality.

06 Mysterious Skin
Gregg Araki is the most original and iconoclastic gay director of the last twenty years, and Mysterious Skin is his most accomplished work: nuanced, daring, and heartbreaking.

05 C.R.A.Z.Y.
The best growing up and coming out story I can remember, and the greatest use of a David Bowie song ever. Everything about this film works, and the soundtrack is incredible.

04 The films of Pedro Almodóvar
My favorite director made four films this decade and although only Bad Education (2004) was specifically gay, everything he does affects and is affected by gay cinema. I think he is now officially the most important gay auteur of all time.

03 Brokeback Mountain
Beautiful, iconic, and flawless.

02 Far From Heaven
Todd Haynes revisionist homage to the films of Douglas Sirk is masterful filmmaking, and it might even surpass the lofty heights of All That Heaven Allows (1955). Julianne Moore's lead performance is the best of the decade. How she lost the Oscar is beyond me.

01 Milk
I don't know where to begin... so much to love. The cast is magnificent, the editing is peerless, and no film dealt so explicitly with the issues facing gay people worldwide as this did. A perfectly made political film that uses the traits and tropes of the biopic to interrogate homophobia and cogently argue the needs and desires of the gay community.

Hope everyone enjoyed this list. What are your personal picks for best (and worst) gay films of the last decade?
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