Set in San Francisco, Love is the City by the Bay’s answer to John Cameron Mitchell’s New York-centric Shortbus: A serious film (read: not porn) that features actual sex acts as a matter of course, not as the be all end all. The film follows Jesse, a gay man who is moving back to the Midwest after ten years in SF. The night before his departure, Jesse’s friends and lovers come together for a bittersweet going-away party.
Says Matthews:
“I wanted to make a modern-day Tales of the City that showcased San Francisco, whether in a nuanced way or directly. Even if we don’t leave the bedrooms or the houses of these people, there’s still something that feels very San Francisco to it, I think.
Porn, to me, has a primary purpose of getting you off. That’s the bottom line, the objective With an art film, I think it’s more complicated… I want to show real sex, how people really have sex—and I also want to document real dialogue, how people really talk.”
But I Want Your Love is only the latest film to put queer San Francisco on the big screen and underscore the city’s importance to queer culture, history and sexuality. We’re taking a look at some of the movies that have captured this gay mecca.
Have a movie to add to the list? Tell us in the comments!
Source: Fleshbot.com (NSFW)
Howl
We didn’t think we’d be able to buy sex-on-wheels James Franco as nebbishy Allen Ginsberg in this nonlinear exploration of the poet’s most famous (and infamous) work—but he pulled it off. Howl revisits Ginsberg’s early life, his relationship with lover Peter Orlovsky and, of course, the poem’s 1955 debut at the Six Gallery on Fillmore Street and the 1957 obscenity trial following the publication of Howl and Other Poems.
The Cockettes
From one extreme to another: This 2002 documentary by Bill Weber and David Weissman explores the legendary drag performance troupe that terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s and ’70s. Trust us, RuPaul’s Drag Race has nothing on bearded hippie Hibiscus and his drug-fueled Dionysian comrades.
The Times of Harvey Milk
Made just a handful of years after Milk’s murder at San Francisco’s city hall, this 1984 doc had its theatrical premiere at the Castro Theatre.It documents the tragedy of his death, but more importantly it also recounts his incredible life, rising from a local activist to one of the first openly gay elected official in American history. The archival footage is priceless, and the recording Milk made before his death, addressing his possible assassination, is downright eerie.
Milk
While the Times of Harvey Milk is essential viewing, this Oscar winning biopic from Gus Van Sant adds depth and drama as it follows the late gay leader from his 40th death to his assassination in 1978. It’s also a fun period piece, giving viewers a chance to see the clock turned back on the Castro.
Tales of the City
Yes, technically TOTC was a TV miniseries, but its performances and production values put it on par with most feature films. For those of us born after Watergate but before the first Gulf War, PBS’ adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s quintessential queer series (later books were adapted by Showtime) was a peek into an as-yet-unknown universe. The miniseries debuted in 1993—well before gays were a regular part of the television landscape—and was unapologetic in its celebration of homosexuality in the disco era. As in the books, San Francisco was a lead character in the adaptation, with characters traipsing through Fisherman’s Wharf, Russian Hill, North Beach, Telegraph Hill, the Tenderloin and other areas.
We Were Here
David Weissman and Bill Weber, who explored queer drag commandos in The Cockettes took a more somber look at a different part of San Francisco’s gay legacy with We Were Here. It’s heartwrenching but still uplifting look at the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the Bay area—and how, when confronted with a lethal epidemic, gay men and their allies rose to the occasion.
