Queer women on film: Pariah and Albert Nobbs

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:21:00 GMT

We took in Pariah at the Uptown Theater and Albert Nobbs at the Edina Cinema last night, seeing as it was opening weekend for both and our schedules are out of control for the next few weeks so if we didn't seize the moment, it wasn't happening. Pariah is an indie film that came out of the Sundance film festival. It's about a seventeen year old African-American butch from Brooklyn dealing with first love, coming out to her family and what her butch identity means to her. I know, you're thinking, "I saw something like this at a queer film festival a year or two or three back." And no, the plot isn't amazingly original, though it has some spins. But the performances by Adepero Oduye as Alike, the protagonist (have I mentioned that she's a writer in the movie? And is absolutely gorgeous?), Pernell Walker as her best friend, Laura, who's been kicked out out of her house for coming out as queer but is getting it together with help from her straight sister, and Kim Wayans, as Alike's deeply unhappy, homophobic mother are amazing. The writing is tight, the cinematography is well done and I even liked a lot of the music. It felt real and honest and I haven't enjoyed a lesbian film this much since I Can't Think Straight (2008) and would put it in with my all time favorites such as Go Fish and Daughters of the Dust. Added to that, I can't remember the last positive representation I saw of African-American lesbians in a mainstream movie. True, it's not always kind to those of us who aren't Kinsey 5s, but it's hard not to like a bi teen who can look her straight friends in the eye and say, "I like girls but I love boys," then start dating a butch. Definitely see this movie - it's totally worth it and it'll need the word of mouth to be successful.

Albert Nobbs is Glenn Close's new film about a woman passing as a man in Victorian Ireland to work as a waiter at a hotel. She is severely repressed and cut off from most human contact until she meets Hubert Page, another passing woman, who works as a house painter. Hubert is magnificently played by Janet McTeer, who I now have a huge crush on. She's in a happy lesbian relationship with her wife, Cathleen, and her appearance in Albert's life completely shakes the latter to her core. Inspired by Hubert's example, Albert attempts to court a young maid at the hotel with disastrous consequences. It is a beautifully done film, with justly acclaimed and nuanced performances and a wealth of detail. The supporting cast is amazing - Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a dissipated (bi?) aristocrat, Pauline Collins as the semi-evil hotel owner, and Brendan Gleeson as the sympathetic doctor all stand out. Sets and costumes are terrific. The film as a whole is an excellent period piece on the travails faced by women who have no options except untenable ones. It is not exactly a laugh riot, in keeping with its general tone, but it is a good movie and also well worth seeing. Close richly deserves an Oscar for this performance. That said, it's also a tad slow moving and I found myself wanting Albert to be more than she/he is, especially after sitting through Pariah. On the whole, Albert Nobbs is a movie of the head and Pariah is a movie of the heart and I could see sitting through both of them a second time to catch everything I missed the first time through.

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Queer women on film: Pariah and Albert Nobbs