From Ryan Gosling in art house, Divine in drag and Gore Vidal in memoriam, here is a selection of Polari Magazine’s Favourite Films of 2013.
Only God Forgives • Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn
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The art house event film of 2013 (next year will be dominated by Lars Von Trier for better or worse), Only God Forgives takes what was hinted at in 2011’s Drive, drains it of almost any dialogue and turns up the colours and confusion. Hard to snuggle up to, Nicolas Winding Refn’s tenth film is pure cinema. The hen night karaoke scene, for example, is one of ornate beauty and complete terror. A hallucinogenic dystopia whose inhabitants’ moral compasses have yet to be triggered. – John Preston
In Their Room London • Dir: Travis Mathews
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The latest installment of Mathews’ series of short films chronicling the intimate everyday moments of gay men’s lives takes place in London and shows his mission widening in scope. Its ‘cast’ includes a broad variety of subjects, from young, Dalstonite hipsters to ghetto-boys and elderly transvestites. The film also has a loose narrative structure focusing on the effect the internet and phone apps is having on the search for casual sex, love and relationships. A thoughtful and thought-provoking slice of modern metropolitan gay life. – Michael Langan
Upstream Colour • Dir: Shane Carruth
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The film that I can’t wait to see again, Shane Carruth’s second feature (after cult favourite Primer) is like a soft blow to head that takes a while to recover from. The plot involves fraud, roundworms, pigs, blue orchids and a man called The Sampler who collects noises. It’s a deeply humanistic film; thoroughly bold and original film making. Upstream Colour is as significant to Carruth as Eraserhead was to David Lynch. A new auteur who is on the brink of brilliance. – John Preston
The Hunt • Dir: Thomas Vintergberg
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Vinterberg was one of the founders of Dogme 95, a group of Danish filmmakers whose main intent is to simplify film production and techniques. Here, he tells the emotive and intense story of Lucas, a man in a small community who is accused of sexually abusing children. Mads Mikklesen’s portrayal of the violently wronged and, at times, Christ-like Lucas is gut wrenching and heartfelt. Vinterberg’s simple use of landscape and light adds to the film’s beautifully somber and chilling atmosphere. – Michael Langan
Gloria • Dir: Sebastián Lelio
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After Almodovar’s depressingly unfunny attempt at Carry On in 2013, along comes a Chilean film set to rival his best. Revenge attacks with paint-balling guns, full frontal pensioner sex with corsets removed, ‘I Feel Love’ playing in a straight singles club, and a life-changing marijuana deposit. It’s all there but that doesn’t do it justice. Playing the role of divorcee and potential free spirit with sincerity and pathos, Paulina Garcia’s portrayal of the right to be an individual is destined to become a classic. – John Preston
Behind The Candelabra • Dir: Steven Soderberg
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In 2013, unfortunately, it’s still unusual for mainstream Hollywood stars to play gay characters. So it was good to see Michael Douglas and Matt Damon taking on the roles of Liberace and his lover Scott Thorson. Not only was their affair depicted realistically and convincingly, I particularly liked the way the film didn’t shy away from certain topics, i.e. drug taking, Damon ‘topping’ Douglas, and then Damon shying away from being ‘topped’ himself. What’s next in 2014? Tom Cruise dabbling in watersports? – Clayton Littlewood
Blue Jasmin • Dir: Woody Allen
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Woody Allen’s made a modern version of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and Cate Blanchett’s performance is astounding. Her pale, translucent beauty is perfect for portraying the eggshell fragility of her character’s mental state. The way Blanchett is able to flit between strength, anxiety and desperation is mesmerizing and Allen’s decision to pull no punches at the end is equally brave. The secondary characters lack the protagonist’s complexity, though the entire cast give it their all, but the Oscar is surely Blanchett’s. – Michael Langan
Short Term 12 • Dir: Destin Cretton
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Everything falls into place a little too perfectly come the end of this compact drama, but that feels a petty comment given what’s gone before. Lead actress Brie Larson is a care-worker in a children’s home in an undisclosed American suburb and along with the young girl she is so desperate to help gives a performance which will almost certainly leave you misty-eyed. I saw this film by chance and it was one of the best afternoons that I had this year. – John Preston
Gore Vidal United States of Amnesia • Dir: Nicholas Wrathall
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This documentary on the life of one of America’s great public intellectuals deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. It summarises the main points of Vidal’s life and personal history, while shining a spotlight on his radical opinions and writings. It skates over some of the more complex aspects of the man’s personality, but given the current state of global politics and economics, the focus on Vidal’s firebrand voice comes across as more eloquent, angry, and urgently necessary than ever. – Michael Langan
Frances Ha • Dir: Noah Baumbach
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It’s interesting how the lead character, effortlessly played by Greta Gerwig, divided opinion. Many hated her and this impacted their appreciation of this misleadingly light-feeling, affecting comedy drama. Frances Ha is a character to take to your heart. Experience social awkwardness through her eyes, of knowing want you want to do when you grow up and the significance as well as the difficulty of maintaining friendships through change. The film is black & white and full of movement – both of Frances and modern day New York. – John Preston
I Am Divine • Dir: Jeffrey Schwarz
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Jeffrey Schwarz is a first rate documentary maker. I Am Divine is a glorious, effortless and soul-stirring tribute to Harris Glenn Milstead and his alter-ego, the drag queen superstar Divine. It tells the story of how Divine came to be, how her rise to fame was bound up with the career of John Waters, and how that trajectory paralleled the new gay rights movement. It is not just entertaining but essential. It was for me the highlight of this year’s BFI LLGFF. – Christopher Bryant
