“Shall we swear to each other one day?” Although Women in Love’s not-so-subtle homoeroticism caused it to be banned in Turkey, it’s now widely considered Russell’s most stirring work. “We ought to swear to love each other, you and I-implicitly, perfectly, finally, without any possibility of ever going back on it,” he says after their wrestling match. Yet as both relationships deepen and, in the case of Gudrun and Gerald, begin to warp, Rupert comes to understand that he wants more than a workaday friendship from Gerald. Ursula loves the dashing Rupert (Bates), a school inspector, and Gudrun loves Gerald (Reed), a local industrialist and Rupert’s close friend. Lawrence-is principally about the courtships of two sisters, Ursula (Jennie Linden) and Gudrun (Glenda Jackson, in an Oscar-winning role). Perhaps best remembered for a scene in which Alan Bates and Oliver Reed wrestle naked before a roaring fire, Ken Russell’s Women in Love-adapted by Larry Kramer (yes, that Larry Kramer) from the 1920 novel by D. There are a ton of amazing Netflix new releases this November for subscribers to enjoy.Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, Alan Bates, Jennie Linden, and Eleanor Bron in Women in Love. Passing is now playing in select theaters and arrives on Netflix (opens in new tab) Wednesday, November 10. It makes for a very interesting film and one that will prompt much discussion. Irene herself may also be unaware of her feelings and desires, which is why it’s not so specifically communicated to the audience. Viewers can infer that if Clare wanted a romantic relationship with Irene, she would clearly express that, whereas Irene is unable to do so. Between the two, Irene is much more reserved, and as Rebecca Hall said, Clare has a very easy relationship with her desires. Whatever feelings are arising in the story, the fact that they’re not clearly defined is what makes them stronger on Irene’s part than Clare's. She unlocks this whole sensuality that exists in Irene. And for Irene, I think it’s much more complicated because Clare’s easy relationship with her desires just busts open this ‘I don’t know who I am,’ And I think that she does have a kind of erotic longing for Clare, because Clare makes Irene feel like the sun is shining on her and everything is great, and when the sun stops shining she’s back in the dark. I think there’s an erotics in longing for all the things: to go back home, to be amongst the Black community, longing for how she perceives Irene of having everything right and it being sort of a paragon and it’s beautiful. She wants something, she will do what she needs to do to get it, and that means anything and she has no sense of the consequences. Clare has a very easy relationship with her desires. Rebecca Hall expanded on this with the following:Īll of it’s open for interpretation, but I think it’s more on Irene’s part than it is on Clare. As the director mentioned, Tessa Thomson’s Irene could be expressing repressed homosexuality, but she could just as well be reacting to a dominant personality she’s never encountered before. Much of Passing is intentionally ambiguous, most pointedly the ending, but even the characters’ motives throughout the film are up to the audience to fill in. It is unmistakably present, but not the focus and not clearly spelled out or explained.
Rebecca Hall accomplished her goal of not being too heavy-handed with the attraction between the characters in Passing. So I didn’t want it to be entirely about Irene’s repressed homosexuality, if indeed that is it, as much as it’s just in the ether. Not explicitly erotic, even platonic ones, but there’s this sort of ‘I see you like that.’ I think that happens between women.
Because there can be attraction, even within female friendships. 7) Nicholas Hoult in A Single Man (2009) This heartbreaking movie luckily includes some levity in your pants when the super cute and twinky Nicholas Hoult strips down nude for Colin Firth 6) Roy Miller and Tim Kalkhoff in The Cakemaker (2017) This critically acclaimed gay romance includes some cakes alright.
And I tried to shoot it not in an obvious way, because that wouldn’t be true to the book, and also I think it would be too heavy-handed in terms of what is being suggested. In preliminary meetings with both Ruth and Tessa, I was a bit like, ‘Do you see this as, you know, are you getting anything ?’ and they both immediately were like, ‘Of course.’ … Yes, we spoke about it a lot. When I spoke with Rebecca Hall, she shared the following of working with the actresses on the story’s subtext: She turns heads simply by walking into a room, and Irene (played by Tessa Thompson) because enamored with her as well. Clare (played by Ruth Negga) has an electric personality that all around her seem to be drawn to.