Engaging LGBTQ-themed Films in the UK
God’s Own Country (2017)
Johnny (Josh O'Connor) is a young man of 24 who lives with his father Martin (Ian Hart) and grandmother Daidley (Gemma Jones). Johnny's family runs a farm and because his father has suffered a stroke and is paralysed, it is up to Johnny to do all the big and small things on the farm.
Johnny has a secret, he is a homosexual, and in order to keep this secret, Johnny constantly represses his emotions and builds up a very high level of stress. One day, a worker named Georgi (Alec Secareanu) comes to the farm as a helper. The older man teaches Johnny a lot of things and as time goes by, Johnny and Georgi grow closer to each other.
Carol (2015)
In 1950s America, a young woman, Thérèse (Rooney Mara), works as a saleswoman in a New York department store, but it is a job as a photographer that she yearns for. One day, a beautiful, elegant blonde woman, Carol (Cate Blanchett), comes into the department store to buy Christmas presents and meets Thérèse right away. After meeting her, Thérèse learns that Carol has a daughter and is in the process of divorcing her husband, Haji (Kyle Chandler). Through letters, dates and road trips, Thérèse and Carol discover that they are truly in love with each other, although this was not allowed in society at the time. Thérèse's boyfriend thinks she is just confused, while Carol's husband hires a private detective to investigate and collect evidence, hoping to leave her with nothing in the divorce proceedings. The time has finally come for both women to be tested: can they stay true to their hearts and see their relationship through to the end, regardless of the cost, in the face of social pressure?
Carol, the new film by acclaimed American independent director Todd Haynes, was selected in the main competition at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Actress Award. The film is based on Patricia Highsmith's anonymously published 1952 middle-grade lesbian novel The Price of Salt, which the publisher initially refused to release due to the sensitivity of the subject matter. It is called "The Price of Salt" because in the 17th century "salt" had another meaning that denoted female lust. In this book it is a metaphor for the situation of the heroines: without love you are like meat without salt; so what price are you willing to pay for this love?
Pride (2014)
In 1984, when British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher took an iron fist to suppress the workers' movement, the miners' community launched one of the largest strikes in its history. At the London Gay Pride parade that same year, a group of gays and lesbians decided to take it upon themselves to raise money for the striking workers. But embarrassment ensued: the union was too ashamed to accept their funding! The gays decided to bypass the unions and go straight to the workers' homes. They drove to a coal mining village in South Wales and brought money and supplies to the families of the workers. From there, two groups of people from vastly different backgrounds come into unexpectedly warm contact and form the most unlikely of alliances in the face of government oppression.
Based on true events, Pride not only holds historical images of the workers' movement in the 1980s, but also chronicles one of the most touching pages in British gay history. The transformation of two groups from prejudice to tolerance, from misunderstanding to alliance is full of laughter and tears, yet moving. Pride won the Palme d'Or at the 67th Cannes Film Festival and the Best British Independent Film Award, and was nominated for Best Comedy Film at the 2015 Golden Globes.
Weekend (2011)
Russel (Tom Cullen) is a gay man who carefully hides himself from the crowd for fear that people will find out he is gay. One weekend night, after attending a friend's party, he goes to a Gay Bar in search of a one-night stand. He meets Glen (Chris New). After a night out, Glen gets Russel to record a video of his views on sex. They meet several times afterwards to discuss their pasts, their lives, their views on homosexuality and Russel learns about Glen's radical views on homosexuality, Glen is leaving to study in America and at the farewell party they both sneak out for one last moment just for the two of them. The next day, Glen is leaving and Russel has to go to a friend's daughter's birthday party. But at the party, Russel can't stop thinking about Glen again and he finally decides to go to Glen ......
I Can’t Think Straight (2008)
The film is based on an autobiographical novel written by director and screenwriter Shermim Sarver. In traditional Middle Eastern high society, Reema and Omar are preparing for their daughter Tala's (Lisa Ray) wedding. Working in London, Tala meets Leyla (Sheetal Sheth) through her friend Ali, who is trying to become a writer, and is attracted by her simplicity, awkwardness and sensitivity. At the same time, Tala's frankness leads Leyla to a real understanding of herself. They fall in love, but duty and cultural ethics hold Tala back and she is forced to return home to prepare for her elaborate and glamorous wedding. As family members visit and the wedding day draws closer, Tala's stress level rises. As the wedding day draws near, how will Tala make the decisions of her life?
Maurice (1987)
Maurice is a 1987 British romantic drama film directed by James Ivory, based on the 1971 novel Maurice by E. M. Forster. In 1909, as a sophomore at Cambridge, Hall (James Welby) befriends Clive Durham (Hugh Grant), a junior, and in 1910, their relationship takes off and Hall is thrown out of the college by Dean Cornwallis (Barry Foster). In 1911, Durham is under great emotional pressure as he watches his friend Viscount Risley (Mark Tandy) being sentenced. 1912, after a month and a half of deliberation, Durham ends his affair with Hall. 1913, Durham invites Hall to his wedding as a bridesmaid, but he does not expect that Alec Scudell (Rupert Graves), the caretaker of his hunting ground, will fall in love with Hall.