Girls on film: ITV kick-starts a gay 2010

by Florentine

Those of you who spent Thursday night knee-deep in bar queues wearing questionable fancy dress and too inebriated to see who you were swapping saliva with at the stroke of midnight, may have missed ITV’s latest toe-dip into the land of lesbianism.  For this New Year’s Eve saw Joanna Briscoe’s erotic thriller Sleep with Me adapted for the channel by formidable screenwriting talent Andrew Davies, in nothing less than their prime time slot.  Yups.  Described as an “erotic thriller” in which “Adrian Lester (Hustle) and Jodhi May (Tipping the Velvet) play Richard Carter and Lelia Phillips, whose lives are turned upside down by a seemingly harmless stranger, Sylvie Lavigne, played by Anamaria Marinca (Sex Traffic)”, Sleep with Me certainly sounded like a decent enough excuse to leave the drunken revellers to it and curl up with a celebratory hot chocolate instead.

So how did they all do?

With credits like Sense & Sensibility, Brideshead Revisited, Little Dorrit, Bridget Jones and Sarah Waters’ Tipping the Velvet/Affinity under his belt, Davies’ script was always going to be pretty faultless while, for the most part, the cast did a good job too (brownie points for Marinca’s subtly disturbing portrayal of unhinged obsession – minus points for Casualty’s Adam James, apparently only able to communicate via overzealous shouts).  In a nutshell, Richard and Lelia are a deliriously happy, newly-pregnant couple… so happy in fact, that a chance meeting with an obvious mental (who looks uncannily like Samantha Morton playing a jellified ‘Pre-Cog’ in Minority Report) sends them both on separate paths of infidelity.  While poor old Richard has to make do with hand-jobs on park benches from mysterious stranger Sylvie however, she and Lelia promptly fall wildly in love; even after the incredibly sweet and seemingly non-mental Lelia remembers that Sylvie is in fact the girl from her repressed nightmares who used to give her underage orgasms (while pretending to be a boy) during a French exchange trip one summer.  Oh yeh, and she kind of saw her murder her own baby brother too.  What?  That’s attractive, right?  Of course, as with all mentals (especially the lesbian ones), the obsessive tendencies soon reach boiling point (in this case, when Samantha – sorry, Sylvie – bungs her lovers’ mowbli out of the window) and innocent ‘victim’ Lelia decides she actually quite liked her cosy little heterosexual life after all… and would rather like to return to it thank you very much.  I’ll let you guess who the winners and losers are in this ‘happy’ ending, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Despite rolling my eyes skywards innumerate times at another psychotic lez polluting the minds of mainstream viewers, Sleep with Me is a well made drama and Davies’ treatment of girl-on-girl relations themselves is largely unflinching and even sweet – the encounters between Sylvie and Richard playing far sleazier and ‘immoral’ in fact.  Even though I remain unconvinced that Sylvie’s allure was strong enough to make even a mentally unstable Gruffalo fall for her, let alone an entire cast of well-educated lovely folk, it’s definitely worth a look if you’ve an hour or so knocking around at some point in January – Sleep with Me is available on ITV Player for the next 28 days.

Whether we’ve liked them or lumped them, there’s no denying that portrayals of lesbians on the small and big screens have been increasing in number of late – so what gems do we have to look forward to in 2010?  Never mind the Tiger; could this be the year of the lez?  Keep reading for some interesting picks of lady-action coming up over the next twelve, glorious months…

BLACK SWAN

This dark thriller from the hugely talented director of awards hit The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream hones in on the troubled relationship between a veteran ballet dancer (Natalie Portman) and her biggest rival (Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Mila Junis).  There was much press coverage surrounding this film back in 2009, after Portman gave an interview with V Magazine revealing that an ‘extreme’ lesbian sex scene would feature, alongside some undeniably butched up photography from Mario Testino (see below).  Whilst my respect for Natalie Portman’s acting talent, intelligence and continued tip-top project choices know no bounds, the only thing I could muster up on seeing these shots was a big fat dirty phwoooar.  Darren Aronofsky’s next project is highly anticipated in camp cake.

90210

This glossy reawakening of an early nineties teen classic has somehow managed to draw in another loyal fan base, possibly including a lot of the folk who watched Jason Priestley’s floppy locks the first time around.  While I don’t condone the fact that this largely brain-cell-devoid offering is constantly blaring out of at least three out of the five televisions installed in my flat, I can see the appeal if only from a perving perspective… apparently ugly or moderately good-looking people don’t exist in Beverly Hills.  Anyway, this year expect to see resident lesbian Gia (played by Rumer Willis… yes, daughter of Bruce) get it on with previously drug-addicted new mother and general screw-up Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes).

Show bosses promise that this isn’t merely a gratuitous stunt to gain publicity… “We’re coming at this [relationship] from a genuine place and not going, ‘Let’s do a titillating story that will grab some promotion.’ This is a real aspect of teenage life that’s interesting… And there’s been a real void in the 90210 universe in terms of gay and bisexual characters.” (Source: Ausiello of EW).  Either way, there’ll be two fit girls kissing.  I’m in.

 

 

 

CORONATION STREET

 

Come again?  Yes, Corrie is finally jumping feet first into modern Britain, introducing their first lesbian character to the street in the born-again Christian form of Sophie Webster – gobby Rosie’s previously mute younger sister.  Bosses of the show have admitted it’s somewhat overdue… “It does seem ridiculous it (lesbianism) has never been explored on Corrie but that’s all about to change.” (News of the World, 2008)  While I’m far too old to be tuning in for any form of titillation, it’s a great boost for today’s teens who may be struggling with their sexuality.  Bets are currently on Sophie’s bible class BFF Sian Powers to be the object of her sapphy affection (nice touch), though this remains unconfirmed for now.

 

 

 

CRACKS

 

While we at TMC have much-covered this sumptuous lezzy feast from first-time director Jordan Scott, its theatrical release was pretty sparse so many of you may have missed it.  Check out our review here and catch it on DVD from 29th March 2010… it’s definitely worth the wait.

 

 

 

SKINS

 

We can now confirm (thanks to E4) that series 4 of groundbreaking teen drama Skins is back on our screens at the end of January… and you can promptly let go of that breath you (may or may not) have been holding, as the spritely cast of series 3 are reprising their roles for our viewing pleasure once more.  Crucially, this of course means more from the cutest couple of 2009, Naomily.  Bless.

Skins writer Georgia Lester discussed the popularity of last series’ lesbian storyline in an interview with Tube Talk… “From the reaction of the fans, we all know that the Emily/Naomi story worked wonders. We were surprised. It wasn’t anything to do with them being lesbians – it was just a heartwarming love story about two people who didn’t really know how to explore those feelings at that age. That was one of our strongest stories. There’s lot of Naomi/Emily drama to come!”  That’s great and all Georg, but I reckon it was a lot to do with them being lesbians actually.  A gloriously realistic portrayal that resonated with all of us who’d been through lusty adolescent confusion, that was evidently long overdue.  We look forward to having them back on our boxes.  Also, look out for Will Young’s comic turn as a school counsellor… I don’t know who I love more.

 

 

 

HANNAH FREE

 

An indie feature shot on a shoestring budget in just three weeks, Hannah Free stars Queer as Folk star (the awful US version that is – judged purely on the vile opening sequence) Sharon Gless in a love story that transcends time.

“Hannah and Rachel grew up as little girls in the same small Midwest town, where traditional gender expectations eventually challenge their deep love for one another. Hannah becomes an adventurous, unapologetic lesbian and Rachel a strong but quiet homemaker. Weaving back and forth between past and present, the film reveals how the women maintained their love affair despite a marriage, a world war, infidelities, and family denial”

Quality is seriously questionable if the trailer is anything to go by… but this film has been making a sizable mark during it’s festival run, which we can’t ignore.  Don’t expect a theatrical release, umm ever, but check back for a DVD release at some point in 2010 – if oldies making out doesn’t make you want to vom that is.  Latest updates can be found at the official website.

HEROES

Word on Heroes street is that the upcoming season 4 sees supremely hot cheerleader Hayden Panettiere “share sleeping quarters (and maybe more)” with her college roomie Gretchen (Madeline Zima).  While debate rages across the internet about what those crucial three words in brackets actually mean, the promo for this season does show a cheeky glimpse of lip-locking between the two.  I checked.  Five times.  Ardent fans have deemed this development a ‘cheap and desperate’ ploy to gain viewers at the expense of the show’s integrity.  If some factions of the press are to be believed however, this storyline was pitched by Hayden herself – I never really rated integrity anyway…

Season 4 Heroes airs from Saturday 9th January 2010 on BBC2.

 

 

 

LIP SERVICE

 

We’ve banged on about this rather a lot over the past few months, but a UK version of The L Word is surely worth it? Read up on our news and cast update here to get yourselves up to speed, then sit back and will away time until Spring 2010 arrives on BBC3… about enough time to try out an undercut I reckon.

 

 

 

PRECIOUS

 

January and February are my favourite months of the year for one simple reason – awards season.  And anyone who knows me is fully aware that if lost I can usually be located in the nearest cinema, lapping up all the Oscar-worthy fodder available for human consumption.  One film that has already piqued my interest is Precious, helmed by gay director Lee Daniels and based on the award-winning novel ‘Push’ by bisexual author Sapphire.  Precious tells the (bleak) story of an obese, illiterate teen pregnant with her second child and abused by her closest family members.  The cast includes comedian Mo’Nique (in a much-raved-about performance as Precious’ abusive mother), newcomer Gabourey Sidibe and the beautiful Paula Patton as her sympathetic and (gasp, fully 3-dimensional/normal) lesbian teacher; the one person finally able to help Precious to help herself.  The film has already notched up an impressive 5 Golden Globe nominations and looks set to receive much attention over the coming months.  Catch it in cinemas from the 29th January.

 

 

 

 

 

TRUE BLOOD

Unless you’ve been hanging upside down in a cave for the past year or so, you’ll be hard-pressed to have missed the vampire craze that’s lustily infected the globe.  And with the release of Twilight sequel New Moon in cinemas last November, it’s safe to assume that the undead craze shows no signs of abating.  But while the world and his hetero wife dribbled mercilessly over Edward Cullen, we couldn’t help wishing for a lezzy version to sink our teeth into.  Bi-light?  Now that’s a saga we could really get on board with.

Arriving like a knight in shining fangs back in 2009 however, was openly gay screen genius Alan Ball who, after bringing the likes of American Beauty and Six Feet Under to our screens, hit us square between the eyes with racy, HBO drama True Blood (basically, Twilight on steroids).  And now he’s going one better with the moist-making announcement that Hollywood A-lister Evan Rachel Wood is set to join upcoming Series 2, as Louisiana’s very own Sapphic vampire queen.  “She’s kind of a cross between Patrick Bateman and Paris Hilton” Wood says of her character Sophie-Anne, “She’s crazy… and she’s a lesbian.”  That’s good enough for us.  Series 1 has just ended on Channel 4, so expect series 2 at some point in 2010.