L-FILMS, TV-SERIES reviews
Occupied & The Wilds – The best TV Shows With Lesbian Characters in 2020 Series that most surprised me with lesbian storylines this year are Norwegian Occupied (Lund, Nesbø, Skjoldbjærg, 2015– ) and The Wilds (Streicher, USA, 2020– ). Occupied is the most high-budget show Norway has ever produced – a near-future climate-crisis and geopolitical thriller. The world is gripped by a fuel crisis; war in the Middle East has halted oil production; the U.S. has become energy independent; and the fossil fuel–rich country of Norway has become the critical supplier of energy to the Europe. And yet, the ruling Green party, led by Norway’s charismatic prime minister, Jesper Berg (Henrik Mestad), has decided to halt all oil and gas production. Berg aims to avert a global climate catastrophe. By shutting down its oil pipelines Norway will supply energy to its European neighbours solely through cutting-edge thorium nuclear plants. Russia, Norway’s neighbour, immediately stages an intervention, kidnapping Berg and forcing him to accept a »partnership« which will keep the oil and gas flowing. This amounts to a soft occupation of Norway by Russian forces. Prime Minister Berg rails against Russian presence and yet he has little choice but to submit to his powerful neighbour, and to the EU, which supports Russia’s move. First, the country becomes gripped by nationalists, with »Free Norway« activists turning on ordinary Russians living within their borders. Then there are escalating acts of domestic terrorism and violence. And by season three, in which climate warriors turn to guerrilla cyber tactics and »Free Norway« activists commit grotesque acid attacks on accused Russian collaborators, Berg has been transformed from an idealist into a power-mad ruler who wants to deport all Russians living in Norway and punish their collaborators. However, the series is not only about the independent Norway as energy supplier with close ties to EU which has been always intricately connected to Russia but also about lack of diversity and inclusitivity of the Russian conservative politics through introduction of a power lesbian couple, Irina Sidorova (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), a Russian ambassador representing Russian government in Oslo in love with a pianist Lyubov Sorokina (Darya Ekamasova). However, Sidorova has been removed as ambassador to Norway by the Russian government, who claim it is due to her unpopularity with the Norwegian population. Sidorova disagrees with the official explanation and believes it is due to her lesbian relationship. On a whim, Lyubov tells the press she believes the Melkøya explosion was a Russian attack which angers Russian authority. Fearing for their safety, Sidorova fakes a Russian assassination attempt against herself to prevent deportation to Russia but Berg personally orders the deportation of Lyubov, hoping to force Sidorova to leave the country to be with her. A high Norwegian official and attorney, Hilde Djupvik (Selome Emnetu) helps overturn the mass deportation of Russians, allowing them to return to Norway, but Lyubov is detained at the airport in Moscow. Sidorova arranges for Lyubov to be smuggled out of Russia through Georgia; they cross the border without incident, but Lyubov undergoes an operation in Tbilisi where a small ampule of poison is implanted in her body. Sidorova is contacted by a Russian official, who tells her that the ampule is remote-controlled and that Lyubov will be killed if Sidorova is disloyal to Russia again. Sidorova and Lyubov are reunited and co-found an LGBT rights organization named Love Without Limits to campaign against homophobia. However, Sidorova secretly uses it as a front to spread Russian influence in Europe. Lyubov has an ultrasound, revealing the poison ampule; Sidorova tells her what it is, but refuses to explain why it was inserted. She is contacted by Russian authorities, who tell her the ampule will only be removed if she ensures Berg loses the election and install a candidate with affinity to Russia. Russian authorities tell Sidorova she must locate Hilde before the ampule will be removed from Lyubov. Sidorova tracks and contacts Hilde. Later, Lyubov gives birth, causing the ampule to burst. The baby is healthy, but Lyubov is sent to intensive care and dies due to the poison. I could complain how another lesbian character gets killed but in this case the plot symbolically tells the story of the oppression by the Russian government which doesn't allow LGBT couple to exist, less to get married, have families or to adopt. In The Wilds we got to know the empowerment retreat called »The Dawn of Eve« which is like a private version of The Big Brother competition with eight teenage girls stranded on the deserted island after the alleged plane crash. Namely, the empowerment retreat is a private research programme lead by psychology scientist Gretchen (Rachel Griffiths) who study young troubled women as her test subjects measuring their perseverance, stamina, mental (dis)stability and social emotional intelligence in a chaotic environment where they have to ensure their own survival through group work and cooperation. Through being stranded on the island we learn more and more about the teens and how their personalities distinguish one from another. Leah (Sarah Pidgeon), an art student got romantically involved with much older author of the book who breaks up with her when he finds out she was laying about being underage. Since then Leah couldn't move beyond the romance and kept living buried in the book with her former lover's footnotes and memories attached to it. Her parents concluded she had unhealthy obsession and couldn't make new social contacts. On the island Leah with her paranoid tendencies quickly becomes suspicious that things aren’t what they seem and that something isn't right. Quiet, artistic and caring Nora (Helena Howard), psychology freshman developed a romantic friendship with her fellow freshman who got killed on his initiation night into Kappa brotherhood. Nora has a twin sister Rachel (Reign Edwards), a sport diving athlete who put all her time, work and energy to become a part of the national Olympic team but gets dismissed because she is too tall and thus can't perform the top results due to her height. Since she was dismissed she also lost the chance to get enrolled into prestigious Standford university and became depressed. On the island we get to know the twin dynamic relationship with Nora's unhealthy obsession to care for Rachel who most of the time opposes her. Fatin (Sophia) is a top violoncello artist whose life revolves around practises, school and being a normal teenager wanting to have trendy clothes, good make up, attending parties and having sex, On island she is the most impractical of all caring mostly about her looks (make up) and clothes although she is willing to share what she got with the others. Basketball player Toni (Erana James) is an orphan, angry, unpredictable and lesbian whose best friend is Martha (Jenna Claus). On an insland her anger issues are challenging for the group work. Peaceful, vegetarian and an animal lover Martha who had an injury in the youth mostly looks out for Tony and considers her as a best friend too, On an island she breaks her vegetarian rule and kills a goat to provide the group with the meat. An evangelical pageant princess from Texas Shelby (Mia Haley), a good Christan girl who always strives to be positive although there is nothing to be positive about but with prejudices towards Toni being a lesbian. Later we find out it is because she is lesbian herself and lives in environment where homosexuality is considered sin, however she overcomes interenlizaed homophobia and eventually gets romantically involved with Toni. Self-aware and responsible Dot (Shannon Berry) doesn't have any illusion on how real life looks like if you are poor – for her life is »give« and »take« transaction. She knows how to handle of everything alone, especially if you only have an ill dad to take care for. On the island Dot is as confrontational as helpful for the group dynamic. There was also Jeannete (Chi Nguyen), Gretchen's infiltrate to spy on the girls, who was badly injured and died while coming on the island. For us the most interesting is a love story between Tony and Shelby. They are the opposites who attract each other like magnet – Tony with her feisty opinion and honesty breaks Shelby's Christian (shameful and guilty) armor and lets Shelby be finally herself by acting on her attraction towards women she always felt without any fear what their future relationship might bring, while Shelby calms down Toni's anger and leads a path towards positivity to trust her like she never trusted anyone before. The Wilds is an inclusive and diverse show having African American, native American, Caucasian, Muslim, catholic, agnostic and lesbian girls, however at its heart, The Wilds is really about the many different ways that young women are underestimated, abused, manipulated, commodified, and lied to in their youth. The Occupied and The Wilds play with imagination of the new possible realities and niether of the two dissapoint with its excellent stories, top notch acting, scenography, music and chemistry among the lead characters.
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Ammonite, Happiest Season and Prom12/15/2020 Ammonite, Happiest Season and Prom Film Ammonite (Lee, UK, 2020) is about Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), a self-taught paleontologist who was known for her groundbreaking fossil discoveries. Anning is gruff and solitary, a kind of human hermit crab, who lives with her ailing mother, Molly Anning (Gemma Jones). One day, an aspiring geologist named Roderick Murchison (James McArdle) turns up, offering to pay Mary if she'll let him accompany her on one of her fossil search. She reluctantly agrees, as she and her mother could use the money. But Mary gets more than she bargained for. Roderick abruptly takes off and pays Mary to look after his young wife, Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan), for several weeks. And while Mary finds her burdensome at first the two women quickly bond. A spark soon ignites, and the two begin to enjoy each other's company. Mary helps Charlotte to heal after miscarriage and Charlotte helps Mary with her work, which both fascinates and energizes her and that is how the two embark on a forbiden love affair. Charlotte returns to her husband and arranges a special room next to her where Mary could stay. However what Mary didn't know is that Charlotte planned for Mary to move in with her and her husband for good. Mary replies to Charlotte that she doesn't know who she is and what her field work means to her and that she should consult her first about her moving plans and then abruptly leaves thus indicating that their love affair may be over. I my opinion Ammonite is better then Portrait of A Lady on Fire (Sciamma, FRA, 2019) because it gives its main protagonists, Mary and Charlotte, freedom to explore and decide about their relationship. Both women decided for themselves whether they wish to be with each other or not whereas Portrait of A Lady on Fire was in its essence a forbidden love which could never be realized. Both Winslet and Ronan share undeniable chemistry, story unfolds believably and their sex scene is fine. I don't mind even if Winslet smiles only three times in the whole film and that the whole film is a bit grim. The only similarity with Portrait of A Lady on Fire is that it takes place on the windy shores and cliffs of Lyme Regis. My only objection is that this is a film about an actual people, Miss. Anning and Mrs. Murchison while there is not a single (direct or indirect) evidence of an actual passionate affair between the two of them. It is true that many women in 19th century shared a passionate friendship which could develop into erotic relationship but that was not the case with Anning and Murchison despite being an actual friends during their lives. Therefore I agree with Barbara Anning, Mary's descendent who objected to Lee's depiction of Anning as lesbian despite being a fine arty film. I give credit to Winslet and Ronan for an excellent acting that presented a very believable fictitious love story although it falls short at times. From drama we go to musical. Musical as a film genre is not my cup of tea but I was pleasantly surprised by Prom (Murphy, USA, 2020). Story is simple. Broadway stars Dee Dee Allen (Maryl Streep), a diva belter with two Tony awards, Barry Glickman (James Corden), a comedy and all kind of helper type; and Angie Dickinson (Nicole Kidman), who continues playing doll-adorable lead parts even though she should've theoretically aged out of them. Dee Dee and Barry just appeared in a new musical about the Roosevelts that closed after opening night, following weak advance sales and harsh reviews saying the play was more about their narcissism and ego then bringing a great performance and believable story to the audience. Alen and Glickman hurt by critics they decide on a new strategy that would show them not only as great actors but also as good human beings. They decide to help Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), a lesbian teen from a small, conservative Indiana town to take her high school sweetheart Alyssa Greene (Ariana DeBose) to the prom. Namely, Emma has been denied the right to take Alysssa to the prom. A Sardi's bartender and recent Juilliard graduate named Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells) also joins the Broadway trio to the way to the Indiana town which they try dusting it with their liberal magic. The four of them soon arrive in Indiana and hop in the middle of the school debate between school principle Hawkins (Keegan-Michael Key) backing Emma's decision to bring her girlfriend to the prom against homophobic PTA president (Kerry Washington) to cancel the event entirely with the support of conservative parents. And that is what is this about, learning about Emma being left by their parents due to her sexual orientation and thus living with her grandmother, having no friends with only the principle being on her side and 'chicken' girlfriend who keeps promising her she would came out when going to the prom with Emma and the Broadway 'quartet' helping her in any way they can with their liberal progressive mind-set and actions. In this sense they educate pupils about what Christian values are really about – about love, acceptance, inclusivity, empathy not prejudices, bigotry, hate, encourage Emma to go to the national television and let people know about her situation to organize an additional prom party where she finally gets to dance with her sweetheart Alyssa while Alyssa finally comes out to her conservative mother who accepts her no matter what. In addition to this we get a romantic spark between Dee Dee and principal Hawkins who gets disillusioned about her the same way as critics saying she found in Emma only a new energy source to boast her narcissism. Dee Dee gets to use all her charms and persuasive abilities in order to change Hawkins's mind to get another chance. And last but not least, Barry gets to meet and reunites with his mother after twenty years. Namely, Barry left his conservative parents after he came out as 16 years old knowing they would never accept him as gay. He also never got a chance to dance with his high school sweetheart on his prom. This is what fuels his motivation to help Emma in every way he can. This is a promising setup, and you can see how audiences might've adored the stage incarnations. The movie hits pleasure spots for devoted theatergoers, mixing self-deprecating observations about how fatuous and self-serving performers can get when they dabble in politics. The songs are mostly serviceable, but there are enough home runs (including Emma's soul-centering, meditative song "Just Breathe") to carry viewers over the rough spots. Corden succeeds mainly by holding his own in the same frame as powerhouse performers like Streep and Rannells. Streep has played this sort of part before so many times (with and without songs) that she could do it in her sleep, and there are moments where she's seems so tuned into her autopilot tendencies that you wouldn't be surprised if she nodded off. She really only comes to life and shows us new shadings when she's flirting with the school principal. Despite her occasional forays into singing roles, Kidman also falls into the just-OK category, and is much better during non-singing scenes where she's vamping and being minx-like. The Prom is mostly about these three celebrity actors although Pellman's onscreen debut is fine and DeBose is fine as well despite a bit of lack of chemistry between the two. Last but not least, Happiest Season (DuVall, USA, 2020) is the first lesbian Christmas romantic comedy about Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis), a lesbian couple from Pittsburgh. Harper spontaneously invites Abby home to spend the holidays with her family. Abby, who’s yet to meet her girlfriend’s parents, decides that she’s not just going to propose, she’s going to go full-on archaic, as she tells her skeptical gay friend John (Dan Levy), in asking Harper’s father for permission to marry Harper and prove her seriousness. So it’s to more than Abby’s dismay that she learns, just before they’re due to arrive on the doorstep of the Caldwell household, that Harper’s family does not actually know about her existence. In fact, they don’t even know that Harper’s a lesbian, and have been told that Abby’s an orphaned friend. And that is how story starts unfolding in all different awkward ways for five days about Abby fields prying questions, public ex-boyfriend and secret ex-girlfriend — all for the sake of her woefully abashed sweetheart. It is completely understandable why Kirsten Stewart said that only McKenzie Davis could play the part of her onscreen partner. Who wouldn't remember terrific Yorkie (McKenzie) in San Junipero's episode (of Black Mirror series) with her naivety and eagerness to experience her first love(r)! However, despite of that there is no proper chemistry between Stewart and McKenzie and neither of them truly shine alone or/and as couple. At times you would also expect that Abby would rather go with Harper's first high school girlfriend Riley (Aubrey Plaza) whom she dumped when they were discovered. then forgive Harper's numerous straight pretense to please her WASP parents. And even after a series of comic events and sisterhood competition truth comes out and Harper reveals she is a lesbian we can't really fully accept her misbehavior towards Abby. I mean, it seems Harper never had any intention to come out to her parents and she even pushed Abby back in the closet when she told Harper's parents that her friend Johan is her ex-boyfriend. I ask whether such behaviour can sustain a relationship? I guess so, since Abby accepts Harper's apology for the hurt she caused and takes her back. Despite everything said it is a fine film if you wish to have some cozy time. After all, it is the first lesbian Christmas film done by an out lesbian director and an out actress although it could be done better. Namely, who likes to watch and re-experience their painful memories of hiding their sexuality and/or her partner. In this sense Prom is a better film. The main character is courages, optimistic and lets the whole world knows about who she is and what she fights for and even if her girlfriend is not as couragious as she is she does what is right in the end. If there is one thing I noticed in the last few years in LGBT films is that more and more A-listed actresses are willing to play in films with lesbian leading roles. From Kate Blanchet and Rooney Mara in Carol to Kate Winslet and Sairose Ronan in Ammonite, however it seems that only younger generation of actresses who play lesbians identify themselves as lesbians and/or queer as well, like Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose, both leading actresses in Prom. In regard to this I truly hope that soon a great film director is going to give an excellent script to A-list actresses, such as Taylor Schilling and Jodie Foster who both identify as lesbians to play in a brilliant happy lesbian love story. Therfore let me conclude. Whether you wish to watch a serious lesbian drama on the windy English shores, musical about an average high school girl who just want to attend prom with her girlfriend or a lesbian comedy taking place in the Caldwell household it is worth spending an hour or two of your time despite neither of them is excellent. AuthorPhilosopher, publicist, editor, screenwriter with passion for LL-films and TV-shows. Archives
November 2021
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