Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-02-22
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Knight at the Movies: Hannah Free; film note
by Richard Knight, Jr.
2009-09-23

This article shared 4443 times since Wed Sep 23, 2009
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email


I'm used to grousing about the lack of gay themed movies in theatres but how about not just the lack but the disappearance of lesbian ones altogether?

Where did all the lesbian movies go? Straight to DVD seems to be the answer. And it's not just the lesbian pictures, either. Queer films of every stripe have become a rare commodity in movie theatres. This isn't just a case of audiences not supporting Our Own Kind ( though the dismal box office numbers on the critically acclaimed Milk might suggest otherwise ) , it also highlights a not very pleasant truth: just because a movie has queer themes and characters doesn't make it a good movie. Far, far from it. Like their overwhelming straight counterparts a lot ( and I mean a lot ) of the queer movies are mostly junk, too—or at least, not very good.

All of which makes the arrival of the genuinely arresting Hannah Free, the locally shot lesbian centric movie starring Sharon Gless, opening this Friday at the Siskel Film Center, something to take note of. The movie, with a screenplay by out writer Claudia Allen ( based on her acclaimed stage play ) is a character drama that spans the lives of its title character ( played at intervals by Gless and Kelli Strickland ) and the love of her life, Rachel ( played by Maureen Gallagher and Ann Hagemann ) . From childhood on Hannah has been the free spirit, Rachel the conventional one. The one constant between them is a fierce love and though Hannah is bitten by the travel bug she always returns to Rachel who has married, given birth to a daughter and son, and been widowed.

Circumstances find Hannah and Rachel both confined to a nursing home—Rachel in a prolonged coma and Hannah feisty and mad as hell because Rachel's grown daughter Marge ( Taylor Miller ) won't let her see mom "because you might upset her." Hannah just wants to say a proper goodbye but the indifferent, unfeeling staff and the immovable Marge stand in her way—a particularly bitter blow because the object of her affections is just down the hall. Like many other one-last-wish-before-I-die movies ( A Trip to Bountiful, Garbo Talks, et al. ) , the quest for dignity in the face of death provides an emotionally fraught, compelling journey.

In Hannah's case, as she reflects back on her on-again/off-again life with Rachel she finds she is haunted—sometimes literally—by the young, vibrant but prim Rachel who fought her love and desire for Hannah. "You always thought we were the only ones who did what we did," Hannah reminds the ghost of the younger Rachel with a laugh. Hannah writes in a diary and finds another repository for memories of her life with Rachel—good ( often focusing on the couple's frequent lovemaking ) , bad ( usually centered on the closet vs. coming out and Hannah's wanderlust ) and cutesy-poo ( unnecessary, cloying scenes with the childhood Hannah and Rachel kissin' in the barn and a'skippin' through the dappled fields ) . This is Greta ( Jacqui Jackson ) a young woman ostensibly doing research on the Great Depression who befriends Hannah. ( The different time periods covered in the film are hazy with the nursing home sequences set in the '90s ) .

Allen's writing is beautifully simple—her characters talk like real people who often have moments of lyrical insight ( "I'm refining myself down to the essentials," Hannah comments at one point ) and Allen relieves even the most emotionally gripping moments with a knack for black humor. Allen gifts Gless—who gives a tremendous, full bodied performance in her first starring film role—and the rest of the predominantly female cast with a host of forceful and quirky characters. Gless, who has become an indelible part of our television history thanks to "Cagney & Lacey," "Queer as Folk" and many other TV parts brings her vast experience with emotionally difficult characters to bear on the role and the movie crackles whenever she's on screen.

Gless doesn't take over the movie—this is definitely an ensemble piece—but she brings to the role a certain set of expectations and a familiarity on the part of the audience that the other actresses can't hope to achieve ( nor do they really need to ) . We're primed to like Gless and her feistiness, no matter the character; to root for her and director Wendy Jo Carlton has the good sense to acknowledge this and keeps the camera on her star, utilizing long takes that allow room for the lengthy, emotionally laden scenes to unfold.

Though clearly made on a small budget the material and performances are strong enough to outweigh most of the quibbles I might have had on that score. "It's a depressingly masculine world," Judy Parfitt tells Kathy Bates at one point in the film Dolores Claiborne but a labor of love movie like Hannah Free with its feminist point of view—shot in Chicago by a coterie of lesbian artists which include Allen, Carlton, editor Sharon Zurek, score composer Martie Marro—who all produced along with Tracy Baim ( Full Disclosure: Publisher of Windy City Times ) —beautifully defies that edict for audiences of every persuasion.

Hannah Free plays Sept. 25-Oct. 1 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State. Sharon Gless will attend a benefit screening, along with cast and crew, on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. followed by a gala reception with food and drinks at the Renaissance Hotel. See www.hannahfree.com .

Film note:

—Queer Cinema 102, the film series co-sponsored by the Queer Film Society and the Center on Halsted focusing on offbeat camp "classics"—the horrible, the perverse, the hilarious, and the fabulously bad—chosen and hosted by gay film critics—ends on Monday, September 28 with the rarely seen The Lonely Lady. This 1983 travesty stars Pia Zadora as a "literate" screenwriter forced to exchange her Lilliputian body and perform other tawdry sins for a chance at success in depraved Tinsel Town. The film won six Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture and Actress. The screening, hosted by Gay Chicago Magazine film critic Charlie Shoquist, will take place in the Hoover-Leppen Theatre at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, at 7 p.m. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 at the door and an audience Q&A will follow the screening. HannahFree.com is helping to sponsor the series. Further information is at www.queerfilmsociety.org .

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.


This article shared 4443 times since Wed Sep 23, 2009
facebook twitter google +1 reddit email

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ 'Black Adam,' Cyndi Lauper, Sondheim, Oscars, OutFest 2023-03-18
- Cultured Magazine recently profiled Quintessa Swindell—who became the first out, non-binary actor to play a lead superhero in the DC universe when they portrayed Cyclone in the 2022 movie Black Adam. Swindell grew up in Virginia ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Little Richard, Indigo Girls, Rodriguez's honor, dance film, Pedro Pascal 2023-03-10
Video below - Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films, director Lisa Cortes' Sundance opening-night documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything will debut in theaters and on VOD ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: Raunchier Uncoupled on the rebound with Showtime 2023-03-06
- "I never liked when she did this in concerts either. I don't like when females are overly sexualized in art. It degrades and objectivy's [sic] women in a way that's not healthy." —TJ Jackson on reports ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Wanda Sykes, Jonas Brothers, 'Queen of Versailles,' 'Bloodshed' 2023-03-04
Adam Lambert video below - Award-winning comedian Wanda Sykes' new comedy special, I'm An Entertainer, will premiere globally on Netflix on May 23, a press release announced. The special, directed by Linda Mendoza, was filmed in early February 2023 at Philadelphia's ...


Gay News

Queerties honor LGBTQ+ creatives at Feb. 28 event 2023-03-01
- The 11th Annual Queerties Awards—which recognizes LGBTQ+ creators, tastemakers, storytellers and newsmakers—took place Feb. 28 at Eden Sunset in Los Angeles. Hosted by drag comedian Bianca Del Rio, the ceremony ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ 'Bob's Burgers,' P!nk, sports items, Billy Porter, Ben Platt 2023-02-24
- Animated sitcom Bob's Burgers marked another major milestone with its 250th episode. Gay actor/comedian/musician John Roberts (who voices Linda Belcher) talked with Queerty and said that one of the most important lessons he's learned from ...


Gay News

'Everything' sweeps The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics 14th Dorian Film Awards 2023-02-23
--From a press release - GALECA,The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, has named A24's fantastical and affecting family relationship drama Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022's Film of the Year—and then some—in its 14th Dorian ...


Gay News

At 'FIRST(ISH)' Sight: Producer Ashley Flowers speaks on 'honest' representation 2023-02-22
- Ashley Flowers—a producer, co-creator and actor in the short film First(ish) Date, now in pre-production—wears many creative hats. She also has an extensive resume working with stage and film props as well; Flowers has been working ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Black queer films, Janet Jackson, Paramore, WNBA, GALECA contest 2023-02-19
- Queerty ran a piece on 10 films that celebrate Black queer love. Some of them include The Skinny (with Jussie Smollett), Dee Rees' movie Pariah, the Oscar-winning Moonlight, the Marlon Riggs classic Tongues Untied, Brother to ...


Gay News

Goran Stolevski grows up fast with Of an Age 2023-02-14
- Openly gay filmmaker Goran Stolevski is a triple threat: He handled directing, writing and editing chores for his new project, Of an Age, which Focus Features is now distributing. The film is already taking home trophies ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Isaac Mizrahi, Viola Davis, Laura Jane Grace, Elton John, GLAAD 2023-02-11
- On Sherri Shepherd's talk show, entertainer/fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi said he'd love for out actor Dan Levy to portray him in a potential biopic based on Mizrahi's memoir, I.M., The Wrap noted. "Dan Levy, OK," Mizrahi ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, Alan Cumming, Andre Leon Talley, AIDS drama 2023-02-05
- Openly gay stand-up comic and recent Golden Globes host Jerrod Carmichael is set to star in a comedy documentary series for HBO, according to Entertainment Weekly. The yet-untitled series will center on Carmichael's personal life, following ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lil Nas X, Sam Smith, tennis items, Oscars, Queerties 2023-01-29
- Famed children's entertainers The Wiggles sent parents into a frenzy when they posted a photo with out rapper Lil Nas X to their Instagram account and wrote, "New collab in the wind?," according to LGBTQ Nation. ...


Gay News

Director Lukas Dhont's Oscar-nominated drama gets 'Close' to audiences everywhere 2023-01-27
- Belgian director Lukas Dhont's new French-language film Close—a nominee for Best International Feature Film for the 95th Annual Academy Awards—tells the touching story of two 13-year-old best friends, Leo (Eden ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: George Santos gets to be a real drag, and all the dish you need 2023-01-23
- "If you're an enemy of drag, you're an enemy of mine." —George Lopez criticizes Ron DeSantis' "War on Drag Queens." There are some stories I try to stay away from, and that includes George Santos—if I ...


 




Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS






Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.