Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives
Studio: Canadian International Pictures
Jul 21, 2022 Web Exclusive
In the 1950s, gay life was treated as a taboo, rarely discussed in public or portrayed in media without being heavily coded. One exception to this was in the pages of cheap pulp novels, where lurid or sensational subject matter is exactly what grabbed readers’ attention. With eye-catching covers and “shocking” taglines, these novels were allowed to live on spinner racks because they almost always with the heroine being “punished” or “redeemed” in one way or another. Even with their eye-rollingly moralistic endings, however, these pulps offered many readers their first glimpse at characters who perhaps felt the same things they were feeling. In a society where their sexuality was suppressed, these novels were often eye-opening.
Lynne Fernie and Aerlyn Weissman’s 1992 documentary, Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives, looks back at that era through two simultaneous approaches. The first is an examination of lesbian pulp literature of the era, in particular the work of Ann Bannon, who is interviewed in the doc; these are paired with dramatized sections realized in the style of a Douglas Sirk melodrama, but with a lesbian theme. The larger approach is a series of long form, testimonial-style interviews with lesbian women who lived through the period, and frankly and openly discuss subjects ranging from how they first discovered their sexuality to the measures they took to follow their desires in a society that forbade it. Thirty years on, these women’s stories are still topical, and courageous—particularly when they talk about the harassment they received from police and ex-husbands, or the steep sacrifices they made just to live the lives. However, Forbidden Love is not all gloom and moral panic: these women’s tales also include many tender stories of first loves, youthful crushes, and the happy results of following one’s heart.
Canadian International Pictures present the movie—newly restored in 2K from 16mm—on Blu-ray for its thirtieth anniversary. Extra features include a commentary by the co-directors, an original electronic press kit, a newly-filmed, Zoom-style interview with novelist Ann Bannon (who is now almost 90 years old), a 2015 Q&A, and a booklet that includes writings by one of the film’s subjects alongside those of critics and historians. The documentary was already valuable for the earnestness of its subjects’ stories alone; their real lives being spotlighted in contrast with the sensationalistic pulp fiction also explored in the film make Forbidden Love a compelling and at times stylish watch.
(www.canadian-international.com/forbidden-love)
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