The Cinesexuals

If Close is “melodramatic” because it dares to explore—and express—male grief in a direct, if aesthetically attuned, manner, how much does that say about what we expect as viewers? When it comes to depictions of suffering, what is it about sentimentality that pains us so? And how or why is it that this becomes even more painful between boys or men?

As a gay viewer whose experience of watching movies changed drastically after coming out, I have found that my motivating force has remained the same pre and post-coming out: to bear witness. To myself, to the community, to the possibilities of life.

It is always a pleasure when a film we mentioned in one of our Best of Fest round ups is submitted to Directors Notes. When I first saw Sean Lìonadh’s Too Rough at this year’s Glasgow Shorts Film Festival, I was taken aback by both its evocation of a tough, lived-in atmosphere of dread as well as its capacity for empathy, creating a nuanced portrait of coming-out in a difficult world. Telling the story of the young Nick (Ruaridh Mollica) hiding his boyfriend Charlie (Joshua Griffin) from his alcoholic parents, it is a deeply sensitive tale that is at once claustrophobic and touching, showing a fine command of tone from the poet/director. It’s a depiction that has clearly struck a chord with audiences and awards juries alike – from BAFTA Scotland (where it won Best Live Action Short) to the British Independent Film Awards as one of the five 2022 nominees for Best British Short Film – and so, of course, we jumped at the opportunity to talk to Lìonadh about basing his film on a true story, finding contrast through performance and being inspired by the hyper-realistic tone of Andrea Arnold.

Twenty-four-year-old Glaswegian Sean Lionadh has established himself as powerful storyteller as poet, writer, musician and filmmaker. A trailblazer, Sean uses the alchemy of film and poetry to share intimate work, making notable social impact. His short film Time for Love, made for BBC, catapulted him onto the global stage as an artist exploring themes of love, God, shame and psychological trial in today’s world. His newest short film Too Rough, inspired by events in Sean’s own life, poses the raw question of “Am I too rough for you?”

My movies are for the outsiders and the weirdos and the punks and the queers. They’re for the people that don’t really fit in. I think it’s why the films have resonated all these years. —⁠Gregg Araki

The real-life subject of a new Hugh Jackman film has criticised it for making his sexuality seem “somewhat sordid”.

The real-life subject of a new Hugh Jackman film has criticised it for making his sexuality seem “somewhat sordid”.Bad Education, which received rave reviews after debuting at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2019, tells the story of Frank Tassone, the superintendent behind the biggest school embezzlement in American history.

Bad Education, which received rave reviews after debuting at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2019, tells the story of Frank Tassone, the superintendent behind the biggest school embezzlement in American history.

Based on Sean’s own experiences, Too Rough tells the story of Nick (Ruriadh Mollica) who wakes up after a big night out next to his boyfriend Charlie (Joshua Griffin) and must conceal him from his dysfunctional, abusive family. Funded by Shortcircuit as part of Screen Scotland and the BFI Network, the film has appeared at 22 different festivals, winning the Audience Award at the Glasgow Short Film Festival and Best International Short at Ireland’s Galway Film Fleadh.

Which is where the LGBTQ angle of the movie begins. And ends. Lightfoot dons a dress and long blonde wig to distract the night manager of an alarm-monitoring service. Once this is accomplished, he dashes down an alley to catch up to the getaway car, which will soon rendez-vous with Eastwood and Kennedy, who’ve done the heavy lifting of the robbery itself.

Even the beleaguered gay emblems in As Good As It Gets (1997), The Object of My Affection (1998) and Threesome (1994) — to cite at random three Hollywood films of recent memory — are light-years more comfortable with themselves and the world around them. In those films, gay men are shown co-existing (for the most part) peacefully with heterosexuals: bottom-line, they can come out successfully. By contrast, Jack and Ennis have an eternally wounded dignity that refuses to be compromised. They were emotionally gutted, early in their lives, by the recognition that, to be themselves, they would have to fight to the death against the entire world — a world who would always fight back harder, and would always win.