Out at the Movies: A History of Gay Cinema

Over the decades, gay cinema has reflected the community’s journey from persecution to emancipation to acceptance. Politicized dramas like Victim in the 1960s, The Naked Civil Servant in the 1970s, and the AIDS cinema of the 1980s have given way in recent years to films which celebrate a vast array of gay lifestyles. Gay films have undergone a major shift from the fringe to the mainstream—2005’s Academy Awards were dubbed “the gay Oscars” with statues going to Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Transamerica. Producers began clamoring to back gay-themed movies and the most high profile of these is Gus Van Sant’s forthcoming Milk, starring Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the first prominent American political figure to be elected to office on an openly gay ticket back in the 1970s. The book also covers gay filmmakers and actors and their influence within the industry, the most iconic scenes from gay cinema, and the most memorable dialogue from key films.
E’ una storia del cinema gay, raccontata per decenni, in modo semplice, piacevole ed immediato, ricca di illustrazioni. Per ogni decade una parte che ne racconta l’evoluzione storica, seguita dalle schede dei principali film e dei principali protagonisti. Un “bigino” del cinema gay indispensabile per ogni attento cinefilo o appassionato del genere. Un imperdibile e stuzzicante “amarcord” o un utilissimo strumento orientativo, secondo l’età dei lettori.