Queering the Oscars: "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"

For Pride Month Team Experience is looking at queer and queer-adjacent moments in Oscar history...

by Cláudio Alves

It was the night of the 67th Academy Awards when a Vera Wang-clad Sharon Stone stepped on stage to present the Best Costume Design Oscar, the second category in an evening most remembered for its Forrest Gump lovefest. And yet, amid celebrating that epic of political passivity and proto conservatism, the Academy found time to tip its metaphorical hat at two classics of 1990s queer cinema. The second such picture, Trevor, would have its moment later when the Live-Action Short race resolved itself in a shocking tie. For now, slotted after a resplendent Dianne Wiest accepted the Supporting Actress trophy, it was time to honor The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert…

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"Horseplay" and the cinema of Marco Berger

by Cláudio Alves

HORSEPLAY (2022)

Last week, Marco Berger's Horseplay enjoyed a limited release in American theaters. The film is the Argentinean director's latest purview of queer desire among straight-passing men, full of his trademark languidness and crotch shots galore. In some ways, it represents an Ozu-like return to heretofore explored premises, with both variations and shapeshifting tone making the virtually identical feel radically distinct. For those who've been following Berger's career, it might be a rewarding foray into violent bleakness. For viewers first encountering his oeuvre, it makes for a strange introduction. 

With that in mind, let's think back to the auteur's evolution, from blue-balling short exercises to the latent disquiet of Horseplay…

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Review: "Blue Jean" tackles the horror of the closet

by Cláudio Alves

As Pride Month unfolds, it's always expected to see some queer stories find their way into the release schedule. Blue Jean is a prime example, arriving in American theaters this past weekend after a smashing critical reception in its home country. Georgia Oakley's feature debut dazzled many on its way to four British Independent Film Awards and a BAFTA nomination. The film looks back to Thatcher's England and the threat of Section 28, whose ban on "promoting homosexuality" feels awfully close to recent conservative legislation on both sides of the pond. Not that Blue Jean is especially keen on overt political messaging, making its points within the model of a character study. 

The character in question is the titular Jean, a secondary school PE teacher in 1988 Newcastle, who hides her sexuality in the workplace and most areas of her personal life. Only at night, in the secretive Eden of a gay bar, does she get to be herself…

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Review: A Portuguese Perspective on "Will-o'-the-Wisp"

Will-o'-the Wisp opens tomorrow in the US in limited release

by Cláudio Alves

I love my country's cinema, so it's only logical I would yearn for its appreciation beyond borders. Yet, sometimes that joy comes suffused with a nagging curiosity. Do foreign audiences 'get' these films? Even when they're praised are they lost in cultural mistranslations?  Perhaps that's too narrow a viewpoint that overestimates how closed-off Portuguese cinema is in its specificities. There's a universal appeal to great cinema, audiovisual idioms can transcend national barriers.

Still, I love to talk with non-Portuguese friends about Portuguese cinema they love and find myself learning along the way. Indeed, I'd love to chat about João Pedro Rodrigues' latest, currently enjoying an American release in selected theaters. Even if you don't get all the details of Will-o'-the-Wisp, there's plenty to love, from fireman eroticism to cumshots, musical stylings, and artificiality unleashed. It's an orgasmic blast from beginning to end…

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Cannes: The cowboys of Almodóvar

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as lovers in "Strange Way of Life". © Sony Pictures Classics

After 25 years, two former hired guns meet again in a small town in the Far West. After crossing the desert, Silva (Pedro Pascal) arrives at Bitter Creek where his old friend and ex-lover Jake (Ethan Hawke) has become sheriff. The two share a dinner and then a night of passion, but as they make the bed together (a tender first time in Western movies history, according to the director) hidden meanings, old wounds, and possible hidden agendas on both sides emerge in a heated discussion.

As usual, 30 minutes of Almodovar can be more impactful and memorable than three hour from other auteurs...

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