28 thoughts on “Top Five Historical Costume Movies About Queer People

  1. Love these choices! And there are some I haven’t seen so more to put on my list!

    Another one on my list is The Night Watch, also a book by Sarah Waters. This one ticks a lot of boxes for me because WWII aesthetic and history is my jam (I know I’m in the minority here). There are multiple LGBT characters in various stages of out-ness (as well as straight people) and gives a great view into their lives and why they make the choices they do. Anna Maxwell Martin is not necessarily as butch as I wanted Kay to be, but life is full of disappointments… Sigh.

    1. Ooo, The Night Watch, I haven’t heard of that, but another Sarah Waters adaption so it’s got a good story! And I love Anna Maxwell Martin in everything she’s been in.

      1. Oh good! I hope you like it! And AMM is very good in the role as a moody soft butch. I just envisioned something a little different.

  2. All great choices. I still, need to see Fingersmith. And I have added Secret Diary of Miss Anne Lister & The Night Watch to my viewing list.

      1. My library has copies and I’ve just reserved it. Still trying to find Night Watch and Secret Diary. But thanks.

  3. “The Handmaiden” is a South Korean period remake of The Fingersmith and it was also really good. :)

      1. It’s Ken Russell’s version of the Tschaikovski story, with Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson.

  4. I actually went and saw the Maurice rerelease in NYC because of this blog! And I absolutely LOVED it. That final romantic scene with Maurice and Scudder makes me damned happy. Such a beautiful, moving, well-crafted movie.

  5. The BBC One Christopher and His Kind starring Matt Smith is an incredible “between wars” story based on Isherwood’s memoirs about his stay in Berlin and the inspirations for his Berlin stories.

  6. I was thinking Albert Nobbs (sp?) but that technically, that does not have a happy ending, but his end has really nothing to do with Albert being who he is. His first glimpse of heaven is a cosy sitting room and his wife, so I would like to think that is where he ends up.

  7. There still has not been a good costume adaptation of Carmilla (though I’m dying to hear you snark on The Vampire Lovers), much as I long for one. But Fingersmith is my favorite that currently exists.

  8. I wish i could tell you where to find a copy, but there was a lovely movie done by PBS way back in 1976 called “The War Widow”, set during World War I. A woman whose husband has gone away to fight in Europe meets an independent young photographer who is recording the lives of the poor in I believe New York City. It has been many years since I’ve seen it, but i remember it had a lovely visual style, and a very sweet story.

  9. Songcatcher is another that I liked a lot.
    Tipping the velvet was eye opening for me. I loved the book but the film was pretty amazing too. I loved Nan’s falling in love and finding herself through it all.

  10. “Tipping The Velvet” has always been my personal favorite both due to Anna Chancellor and its look at the male-impersonator scene, which was a big thing in the Edwardian-era music hall; Vesta Tilley, one of the major stage stars of the period, made her name doing that.

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