Queer movie notes

Trying to catch up on logging the queer movies I've watched!

Bar Bahar, In Between, 2016. Arabic and Hebrew with subtitles in English and French.

"Three Palestinian women living in an apartment in Tel Aviv try to find a balance between traditional and modern culture."

I liked a lot of things about this independent film, which is about 3 women who are roommates and become good friends. One of them is a lesbian. One is a very independent lawyer. The newest roommate is a traditional woman who is engaged, and also a student at university. The acting is good and I was interested in their lives. Ultimately I can't recommend this film, though, because it has a fairly graphic rape scene. The ending also felt like somewhat of a downer.

The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin, Netflix, documentary.

This was a very warm and loving portrait of the famous gay author. I found it restful to watch.

Queer movie notes: Tom of Finland

I recently read "The Complete Kake comics" by Tom of Finland, loaned to me by a friend from comics group. (Kake is pronounced like cocky.) I remembered seeing a preview for the film based on Tom's life, so got this out from the library and watching it today.

It's a quiet and lovely film, spanning 4 decades, from WWII era into the 1980s. Touko Laaksonen was an officer in the army, later worked at an ad agency, and ultimately found success in the US with his erotic gay comics. In the first part of the film, Touko has a rather rough time of life. He has flashbacks and nightmares from his time in the war. He's arrested while visiting Germany after getting his passport stolen. He's thrown out of a club and witnesses police beat up men who are in a park seeking sex. There was less sex in this film than I expected; it's more about Touko's life and relationships. It was refreshing that Touko was largely unashamed of being gay, and helped other people find pride through his art.

This film is in Finnish with English subtitles.