Back in 1961, this must-see neo-noir helped change British perceptions of homosexuality
Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we’re revisiting 1961’s Victim, the first British film to directly address homosexuality and depict it in a sympathetic light.It may be a cliché expression at this point, but there’s no denying that one of the absolute core foundations of queer life is community.
Everyone that identifies within the LGBTQ+ umbrella in bonded not only by a sexual orientations and/or gender expressions that diverge from mainstream heteronormativity, but through much deeper bonds of love, friendship, language, and a shared history and culture.
As part of the queer community, you share a unique, intrinsic connection with thousands of other people around the world and throughout history.Subscribe to our daily newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.And as long as there’s been “queer film,” there have been artists and filmmakers seeking to capture and portray this grander sense of community and often unspoken connection on screen.Where the majority of these stories tend to focus on the connective senses of love, freedom, and authenticity that exist within these spaces and circles, this week’s film takes a different approach at portraying what unites us all.Victim—director Basil Dearden’s groundbreaking British film from 1961—takes a step away from this sense of safety and community that was built in underground and private spaces.
It places the action in the middle of the society that banished us, among discriminatory and life-ruining laws, forcing us to live in the shadows.
