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Movie Reviews: Lesbians Happily Ever After
There's nothing like a good research question to make me overly ambitious. This one was, "What are some good movies involving lesbian romances that don't end up with the protagonists deeply unhappy, dead, or both?" Keep in mind that the standard lesbian pulp fiction plot required either the death or "redemption" of at least one of the characters, and this genre requirement contaminated Hollywood lesbian plots for entirely too long, eventually supplemented inadequately by Standard Coming-Out Plot A. See my review of Ash for what I think of that.
But at any rate, in response to the request, here is a very idiosyncratic synopsis of assorted lesbian themed movies and mini-series, organized around three axes: Do any of the romantic protagonists die? Do any of the romantic protagonists recant? (I.e., discover that they aren't actually lesbians after all, that it isn't worth bucking the system for a woman, that they were really in love with their original boyfriend after all, etc. etc.) Is the story about more than the coming-out process?
I'm starting this off with items I have in my personal video library (since it's the easiest memory-jogger). I have about another half dozen to go besides the ones listed here, but I had to quit for the night. Within each category, the titles are in no particular order.
No death, no recanting, minimal or no coming out
If These Walls Could Talk (2000) A television ... concept, I guess you'd call it, rather than trying to shoehorn it into "series" or "movie" or some such. Each set of shows revolves around the conceit of three different sets of inhabitants of the same location, at three different eras, each dealing with the same social "issue". The topic for the second "set" is lesbians, with stories set in 1961 (depressing and infuriating, no happy ending), 1972 (feminism vs. the Lavender Menace! butch-femme culture vs. crunchy-granola! happy ending!), and 2000 (in the heart of the "gay-by boom", light comedy, happy ending). Refreshingly, none of the stories is a basic "coming out" tale. While the first episode is Not Happy, it's the sort to drive you to march in the streets rather than to mope in the corner, and there isn't the slightest whiff of "punishment for sin" themes. Nobody turns straight or dies (well, technically someone dies but it's before the story opens).
Tipping the Velvet (2002, mini-series) A period piece (from the novel by Sarah Waters) about the oyster-seller's daughter who falls in love at the music hall with a male impersonator and runs away to live with her in late Victorian London. Alas, the object of her affection isn't as steadfast and true and our ingenue goes through many adventures and relationships before making the key choice that leaves her in a happy and stable couple at the end. (Note: lots of sex of all sorts of types. Not a movie for the timid.) The story arc is too expansive to pigeonhole it as a "coming out" story, although that's certainly a theme, especially at the start. No main characters die. The protagonist is happy (although not all the hearts she passes through are). But given the historic setting, the resolution can't be of the sort that a modern viewer would envision for herself.
Fingersmith (2005, mini-series) Another adaptation of a Sarah Waters period piece. A plucky orphan raised as a thief and an heiress collide romantically in the midst of a complex con job in Victorian England. There are plots and betrayals and counter-betrayals to complicate the romance. The ending is, in most respects, happy, even triumphant. The romantic couple are both alive at the end, although that can't be said for other key characters. Coming out is a part of the story, but only a minor part.
Bar Girls (1995) Life in the LA lesbian bar scene in the '90s. A bit of an L Word precursor of sorts. A bit of a slice-of-life rather than a clear story arc, although there is one main romance being followed. The ending isn't unhappy, by any means, but if you aren't a "bar scene" sort of person, the overall feel is a bit dreary. Nobody dies. The characters are all long past coming out.
No death, no recanting, but a fair amount of coming out
The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love (1995) Teenager coming-out movie. Light-hearted and working so hard to dodge stereotypes that it sometimes ties itself in knots. Some slapstick comedy and a happy ending. Nobody turns straight or dies.
The Midwife's Tale (1995) A costume-romance set up with a framing story of a lesbian mother telling her daughter a bedtime story about a "medieval knightess". The story-in-a-story is, unfortunately, riddled with cliches, such as the church persecuting the local wisewoman/midwife. But we have the unhappily pregnant lady of the manor falling in love with the midwife's apprentice, followed by drama and imprisonments in towers and damsels in distress and an eventual daring rescue. A happy ending at both levels of the story and no lesbians die. The story-in-a-story is, in effect, a coming-out story but the framing one isn't. Alas, the movie experience suffers a bit from being a very low budget film-school project.
When Night is Falling (1995) Uptight college professor Camille, in a fit of uncertainty and confusion about her relationship with her boyfriend, meets freespirited circus performer Petra for whom it is love at first sight. Petra pursues and Camille succumbs, followed by a hostile confrontation with her (ex?) boyfriend. But in the end, with the circus leaving town, Camille runs away to join it. No lesbians die, but Camille's dog's death is deeply intertwined in the plots symbolism. Definitely a coming-out/seduction story. Implications of happily-ever-after, but you have to have doubts about the stability of the relationship.
Cynara: Poetry in Motion (1996) A period piece set in late 19th century. Artsy and atmospheric but a bit thin on plot (and occasionally, intelligibility). Sculpter Cynara meets Parisian expatriate writer Byron (can we say, lack of imagination?!) on the beach and much misty sensuality ensues. I honestly confess I don't recall whether they're still together at the end. On-line reviews call it "Harlequin romance for lesbians" which suggests a happy-ever-after. Certainly nobody dies. Not a traditional "coming out" story either. But cotton candy rather than steak.
No death, no recanting, but no happiness either
Mädchen in Uniform (1931, b&w, German, subtitled) A student at an authoritarian girls school develops a crush on a sympathetic teacher but her public declaration of love triggers an untenable situation when the teacher stands up for the students and is forced to resign. Although she saves the student from tragedy at the end, there is no clear indication of any "happy ending" available for either of them. Nobody dies (barely), and it doesn't follow the typical "coming out" plot, but for the same reasons that one can't really evaluate it on the "no turning straight" axis. Let's sum it up with "no happily ever after."
Death but no recanting
Aimée & Jaguar (1998) Based on a true story set in WWII, Lilly, the wife of a German soldier falls in love with Felice, a member of the Jewish underground. Being biography rather than fiction, the story has the expected tragic outcome when Felice declines to flee Germany in order to remain with Lilly. (It's small compensation that Felice was doomed for being Jewish rather than being a lesbian.) So, no happily-ever-after, one of them dies, and there's a fair amount of coming-out story.
Recanting but no death
Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) Straight girl Jessica gets frustrated with men and dabbles in lesbian dating with heretofore straight Helen, who falls more on the "questioning" side rather than the "experimenting" side. A romantic arc develops that goes through stumbling courtship, consummation, arguments about being closeted, coming out, a rapid slide into a platonic relationship, breaking up over that, and Jessica ending up back with a man while Helen keeps on with women. So to sum up, nobody dies but only one of the two sticks the landing and it falls more in the "coming out" category than not.
Portrait of a Marriage (1990) Mini-series biopic about the lives and loves of post-WWI English politician Harold Nicolson, his wife the famous Vita Sackville-West, and her lover the manipulative and needy Violet Keppel (and, we'll eventually toss in Violet's husband as well). It Does Not End Happily. Nobody is "punished by death" but there's a strong over-arching theme that same-sex relationships are doomed to unhappiness and failure by nature of the pressures around them. Not really a coming-out story, as such.
But at any rate, in response to the request, here is a very idiosyncratic synopsis of assorted lesbian themed movies and mini-series, organized around three axes: Do any of the romantic protagonists die? Do any of the romantic protagonists recant? (I.e., discover that they aren't actually lesbians after all, that it isn't worth bucking the system for a woman, that they were really in love with their original boyfriend after all, etc. etc.) Is the story about more than the coming-out process?
I'm starting this off with items I have in my personal video library (since it's the easiest memory-jogger). I have about another half dozen to go besides the ones listed here, but I had to quit for the night. Within each category, the titles are in no particular order.
No death, no recanting, minimal or no coming out
If These Walls Could Talk (2000) A television ... concept, I guess you'd call it, rather than trying to shoehorn it into "series" or "movie" or some such. Each set of shows revolves around the conceit of three different sets of inhabitants of the same location, at three different eras, each dealing with the same social "issue". The topic for the second "set" is lesbians, with stories set in 1961 (depressing and infuriating, no happy ending), 1972 (feminism vs. the Lavender Menace! butch-femme culture vs. crunchy-granola! happy ending!), and 2000 (in the heart of the "gay-by boom", light comedy, happy ending). Refreshingly, none of the stories is a basic "coming out" tale. While the first episode is Not Happy, it's the sort to drive you to march in the streets rather than to mope in the corner, and there isn't the slightest whiff of "punishment for sin" themes. Nobody turns straight or dies (well, technically someone dies but it's before the story opens).
Tipping the Velvet (2002, mini-series) A period piece (from the novel by Sarah Waters) about the oyster-seller's daughter who falls in love at the music hall with a male impersonator and runs away to live with her in late Victorian London. Alas, the object of her affection isn't as steadfast and true and our ingenue goes through many adventures and relationships before making the key choice that leaves her in a happy and stable couple at the end. (Note: lots of sex of all sorts of types. Not a movie for the timid.) The story arc is too expansive to pigeonhole it as a "coming out" story, although that's certainly a theme, especially at the start. No main characters die. The protagonist is happy (although not all the hearts she passes through are). But given the historic setting, the resolution can't be of the sort that a modern viewer would envision for herself.
Fingersmith (2005, mini-series) Another adaptation of a Sarah Waters period piece. A plucky orphan raised as a thief and an heiress collide romantically in the midst of a complex con job in Victorian England. There are plots and betrayals and counter-betrayals to complicate the romance. The ending is, in most respects, happy, even triumphant. The romantic couple are both alive at the end, although that can't be said for other key characters. Coming out is a part of the story, but only a minor part.
Bar Girls (1995) Life in the LA lesbian bar scene in the '90s. A bit of an L Word precursor of sorts. A bit of a slice-of-life rather than a clear story arc, although there is one main romance being followed. The ending isn't unhappy, by any means, but if you aren't a "bar scene" sort of person, the overall feel is a bit dreary. Nobody dies. The characters are all long past coming out.
No death, no recanting, but a fair amount of coming out
The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls in Love (1995) Teenager coming-out movie. Light-hearted and working so hard to dodge stereotypes that it sometimes ties itself in knots. Some slapstick comedy and a happy ending. Nobody turns straight or dies.
The Midwife's Tale (1995) A costume-romance set up with a framing story of a lesbian mother telling her daughter a bedtime story about a "medieval knightess". The story-in-a-story is, unfortunately, riddled with cliches, such as the church persecuting the local wisewoman/midwife. But we have the unhappily pregnant lady of the manor falling in love with the midwife's apprentice, followed by drama and imprisonments in towers and damsels in distress and an eventual daring rescue. A happy ending at both levels of the story and no lesbians die. The story-in-a-story is, in effect, a coming-out story but the framing one isn't. Alas, the movie experience suffers a bit from being a very low budget film-school project.
When Night is Falling (1995) Uptight college professor Camille, in a fit of uncertainty and confusion about her relationship with her boyfriend, meets freespirited circus performer Petra for whom it is love at first sight. Petra pursues and Camille succumbs, followed by a hostile confrontation with her (ex?) boyfriend. But in the end, with the circus leaving town, Camille runs away to join it. No lesbians die, but Camille's dog's death is deeply intertwined in the plots symbolism. Definitely a coming-out/seduction story. Implications of happily-ever-after, but you have to have doubts about the stability of the relationship.
Cynara: Poetry in Motion (1996) A period piece set in late 19th century. Artsy and atmospheric but a bit thin on plot (and occasionally, intelligibility). Sculpter Cynara meets Parisian expatriate writer Byron (can we say, lack of imagination?!) on the beach and much misty sensuality ensues. I honestly confess I don't recall whether they're still together at the end. On-line reviews call it "Harlequin romance for lesbians" which suggests a happy-ever-after. Certainly nobody dies. Not a traditional "coming out" story either. But cotton candy rather than steak.
No death, no recanting, but no happiness either
Mädchen in Uniform (1931, b&w, German, subtitled) A student at an authoritarian girls school develops a crush on a sympathetic teacher but her public declaration of love triggers an untenable situation when the teacher stands up for the students and is forced to resign. Although she saves the student from tragedy at the end, there is no clear indication of any "happy ending" available for either of them. Nobody dies (barely), and it doesn't follow the typical "coming out" plot, but for the same reasons that one can't really evaluate it on the "no turning straight" axis. Let's sum it up with "no happily ever after."
Death but no recanting
Aimée & Jaguar (1998) Based on a true story set in WWII, Lilly, the wife of a German soldier falls in love with Felice, a member of the Jewish underground. Being biography rather than fiction, the story has the expected tragic outcome when Felice declines to flee Germany in order to remain with Lilly. (It's small compensation that Felice was doomed for being Jewish rather than being a lesbian.) So, no happily-ever-after, one of them dies, and there's a fair amount of coming-out story.
Recanting but no death
Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) Straight girl Jessica gets frustrated with men and dabbles in lesbian dating with heretofore straight Helen, who falls more on the "questioning" side rather than the "experimenting" side. A romantic arc develops that goes through stumbling courtship, consummation, arguments about being closeted, coming out, a rapid slide into a platonic relationship, breaking up over that, and Jessica ending up back with a man while Helen keeps on with women. So to sum up, nobody dies but only one of the two sticks the landing and it falls more in the "coming out" category than not.
Portrait of a Marriage (1990) Mini-series biopic about the lives and loves of post-WWI English politician Harold Nicolson, his wife the famous Vita Sackville-West, and her lover the manipulative and needy Violet Keppel (and, we'll eventually toss in Violet's husband as well). It Does Not End Happily. Nobody is "punished by death" but there's a strong over-arching theme that same-sex relationships are doomed to unhappiness and failure by nature of the pressures around them. Not really a coming-out story, as such.