MQFF Day 10

Sunday 13th March

The final official day of the festival, although due to popular demand three films will have encore screenings on Monday evening.

I kicked things off with a 2.15pm screening of Pursuit of Equality, a deeply moving film about the city of San Francisco's brief legalisation of same-sex marriage before the state cracked down on the situation. I'm not into the idea of gay marriage at all, as I don't see the need to ape heterosexual traditions, but this film certainly succeeded in demonstrating to me why other queers want the right to marry. There are some truly inspiring and agonising moments in this film, which moved me to tears on numerous occasions. The fly-on-the-wall scenes inside city hall as the mayor and his staff battle legal opposition to gay marriage is fascinating, while the many individuals whose lives are irrevocably changed add a human dimension to the political and religious battle that was sparked by the first same-sex wedding, between elderly lesbian couple Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin. A great film, and a stirring call to arms.

Next was the BBC telemovie When I'm 64, whose gentle story about the burgeoning romance between two 65 year-old men ensured that my tears kept coming. I'm a hopeless romantic, and this film, with its deftly sketched characters and superb cast, pushed all the right buttons without feeling manipulative.

The closing night film was Happy Endings, and I'm sad to say it ended my 2006 queer film festival on a low note. This was a classic example of a straight film that just happened to feature a handful of queer characters; its sensibility wasn't queer at all. In addition, all the characters were ciphers rather than well-rounded individuals, and they were all absolutely unlikeable, with the exception of the cute but bland young drummer Otis, played by Jason Ritter.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Ritter and Tom Arnold in a tense moment in Happy Endings.

A complex web of interlocked stories gradually unfolds as the film progresses, in classic Altman style, but lacking Altman's flair and complexity, and the majority of situations were so contrived as to be utterly banal. Various titles flashed onto the screen to advance the story or convey additional plot/character details, which I imagine was supposed to be clever, but which to me just felt trite and lazy - and which also dragged you out of the experience of watching the film. Overall the film seemed to lack focus, meandered towards an awkward series of endings; my viewing pleasure was further diminished by the fact that the projectionist was doing a shit job, which meant the film was often slightly but annoyingly out of focus.

Thereafter we all trooped around the corner to the nighclub/bar F4 for the closing night party. Unfortunately no-one semed to have told the bouncers that we were coming, as they turned away anyone who didn't fit their rigid dress code - myself included, as I was wearing shorts. What a fucking debacle!

There were angry scenes a-plenty, with rightfully pissed off festival patrons who'd paid for their closing night film and party only to be denied access to the party itself, milling around in the street. By the time the festival's co-convenor had successfully and angrily argued for people to be let in regardless, a lot of punters had left in disgust, and I rather imagine that the atmosphere inside the club was pretty leaden (I didn't even bother going in, as I decided not to favour such a fucked venue with my patronage, and went to Witness Protection Program Social Club then Control HQ instead).

I look forward to hearing all the fallout from this particular closing night fuck-up in the coming week!

All in all, an unfortunate end to what has otherwise been a bloody good festival. I'm off to see at least one more film this evening, and will update this blog again as soon as I get a chance. I'm actually rather pleased the festival is over, as I haven't done anything else this week - as fun as its been, I look forward to doing some housework, catching up on e-mails, and turning my attention to various other matters, such as finding a new job!!!