Year in Review: Queer Films and Performances
From the best fi lms to the worst performances of 2021
BY GARY M. KRAMER
There were certainly some
impressive LGBTQ fi lms
and performances in
2021. Here is a recap of
the best (and the worst) from this
year’s slate of cinema.
BEST FILM: Flee
This riveting documentary tells
the true story of director Jonas Poher
Rasmussen’s gay friend Amin,
whom he fi rst met as a teenager in
Denmark. Using animation and
news footage, Rasmussen interviews
Amin, who talks about his
attraction to men and the struggles
he and his family face leaving
Afghanistan behind. A harrowing
story about fi nding home, “Flee” is
personal and political — and undeniably
affecting.
BEST PERFORMANCES
TRANS
As Anna, a cisgender woman in
her 20s who agrees to be a surrogate
for Matt (Ed Helms), trans
actress Patti Harrison is fantastic
in the poignant comedy, “Together
Together.” Harrison imbues Anna
with a positive spirit and provides
an engaging, grounded presence.
Harrison makes viewers feel her
character’s every emotion — especially
when Anna takes a salesclerk
to task when she thinks Anna is a
single mother.
RUNNERS UP
Nomi Ruiz, a woman of transgender
experience, made a strong
impression in her feature fi lm acting
debut as a down-to-earth diva
in “Haymaker,” a gritty and enjoyable
low-budget romance by writer/
director/star Nick Sasso that
riffed on the “Bodyguard” formula.
Likewise, Leyna Bloom made an
auspicious fi lm debut as Wye, a
New York kiki ballroom dancer in
writer/director Danielle Lessovitz’s
absorbing drama, “Port Authority.”
Bloom was at her best when Wye is
performing, but she is equally compelling
in the dramatic scenes.
FEMALE
In “Two of Us,” Barbara Sukowa
gave a deeply moving turn as Nina,
a woman of a certain age who has
put all her hope and trust (and
Nomi Ruiz made a stromg impression in “Haymaker.”
money) into being with Madeleine
(Martine Chevallier), the woman
she loves — only to be unexpectedly
denied her happy ever after.
Sukowa’s nuanced performance
makes Nina’s nervy and vulnerable
dispositions palpable as her
fortunes rise and fall.
MALE
Udo Kier has a fabulous turn as
Mr. Pat, an aging hairdresser asked
to style a dead woman (Linda Evans)
for her funeral in “Swan Song.”
The reliable character actor delivers
what is arguably a career-best performance
as Mr. Pat travels across
town, refl ecting on his life and his
experiences as a gay man.
BEST NEWCOMER
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”
showcased a star-making
performance by out gay actor Max
Harwood as the title character in
this screen adaptation of the irresistible
West End musical about a
teenage drag queen.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Director Chris McKim’s outstanding
documentary “Wojnarowicz,”
about late gay political activist
and multimedia artist uses his
journals, cassettes, photographs,
paintings, and super-8 fi lms to
recount his life and work. The
fi lm is a remarkable testament to
the downtown artist as an angry
young man.
RUNNER UP
“My Name Is Pauli Murray,” was
an illuminating (if conventionally
GRAVITAS VENTURES AND KAMIKAZE DOGFIGHT
made) documentary profi le of the
remarkable, queer, non-binary,
human rights activist, lawyer,
poet, and reverend. Murray was
instrumental in combating race-
and gender-based discrimination
at a time when there was great risk
in doing so. Through engaging interviews
with and recordings by
Murray, as well as testimonies by
a slew of talking heads, “My Name
Is Pauli Murray” shines a necessary
light on a woman whose work
is essential, and largely unknown,
but whose legacy continues today.
SEXIEST FILM
Out gay fi lmmaker Tsai Mingliang’s
“Days” depicted two men,
Kang (Lee Kang-seng) and Non
(Anong Houngheungsy), who eventually
meet in a hotel room where
Non massages the naked Kang before
they go their separate ways. Tsai
FILM
makes not just the encounter — a
half-hour long sequence that brims
with eroticism — but the entire fi lm,
tremendously tender. The long takes
and ambient sound contribute to
the palpable sense of longing, loneliness,
isolation, and connection that
makes Tsai’s work spellbinding.
RUNNERS UP
The passionate Chilean romance,
“The Strong Ones,” chronicles the
relationship that develops between
Lucas (Samuel González) and Antonio
(Antonio Altamirano) in a
coastal town in Southern Chile. The
attraction between the two men is
electric; the attractive actors have
tremendous chemistry. Viewers will
likely melt just watching these guys
simply gaze at each other.
Bruce LaBruce’s “Saint-Narcisse”
is a witty comedy about a handsome
young man, Dominic (Félix-
Antoine Duval) who goes on a journey
of self-discovery and discovers
he has a twin, Daniel (Duval in a
double role), a young monk. Their
connection leads to an attraction—
and yes, twincest!—but Daniel, is
being held as a sex slave by Father
Andrew (Andreas Apergis) who worships
Saint Sebastian. Duval gives
an unselfconscious performance
that exudes eroticism.
WORST FILM
“Deadly Illusions,” was an often
unintentionally funny, frequently
head-scratching erotic thriller. It
was completely bonkers but not in
a good way; it featured lousy dialogue,
leaden pacing, and terrible
acting.
GayCityNews.com | December 30, 2021 - January 12, 2022 13
/GayCityNews.com
