brokeback.JPG

"Brokeback Mountain" is regarded as the biggest breakthrough for 'gay cinema.' That it was made by a straight cast and crew points to the key in breaking through: A universal theme that can work with mainstream audiences.

(Associated Press)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In the 21 years since the Cleveland International Film Festival rolled out its 10% gay cinema series, the genre has slowly come of age.

At the very least, it’s come out of the closet. The series focuses on gay films made largely for gay film fans, a longstanding core audience at CIFF.

When the series started, in 1993, many of the films addressed AIDS, homophobia, coming out of the closet.

“We still have films that deal with those issues,” says CIFF artistic director Bill Guentzler. “But we’ve started to see more universal themes, where a film might just happen to have gay characters.”

It’s been a long road getting there – and there are still many hurdles.

“Film is the most expensive art form, and people want to play it safe, so there are fewer risks involved,” says Louis Giannetti, author of “Understanding Movies” and film professor emeritus at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. “So making a ‘gay movie’ is like starting out with one hand behind your back.”

Giannetti points to the 2005 cowboys-in-love story “Brokeback Mountain” as the exception.

“It was originally marketed to women, as a story about forbidden love,” he says. “The lovers happened to be men, who married out of societal pressure — and it made for a universal story.”

Ironically, "Brokeback Mountain" was made by a straight cast and crew.

“It makes you wonder, why aren't there more films like this? And why does it take a straight person to make a film that gay people have not been able to make of late?” says Giannetti, who is gay. “Unfortunately, places like the Logo channel point to a ghettoization of gay content.”

That ghettoization runs counter to the mainstreaming of gay culture as a whole.

“That’s one of the reasons filmmakers and distributors like to have their films shown in the CIFF,” says Guentzler. “Even though this is a gay sidebar in the festival, it carries more weight to have your film in a general festival vs. a gay festival.”

Aspects of "gay cinema" have always been part of the mainstream – you just didn’t know it unless you had "gaydar."

For decades, gay themes were expressed through hints, winks and caricature.

“German films dealt with homosexuality in the 1920s,” says Giannetti. “But we saw what happened when Hitler came to power."

Hollywood has

Marlene Dietrich could dress like a man and could kiss a woman -- on and off the screen.

long flirted with “gayness.”

“Flamboyant” characters were often code for gay. “Camp” was code for “gay theme.” And strong female leads, from Bette Davis to Judy Garland, often became gay icons.

Marlene Dietrich, who was openly bisexual, on- and off-screen, swung into action with panache and ironic detachment — not to mention a fluid sexuality that made her an icon to gay men and women.

There’s a scene in the 1930 film "Morocco" where she dresses like a man, kisses a woman and puts a flower behind Gary Cooper’s ear — one of the most sexually ambiguous scenes you’ll see in Hollywood.

Strong women were the first gay icons.

“George Cukor was openly gay, and most of his movies featured strong women,” says Giannetti, referring to the legendary director. “And in ‘Ben-Hur,’ the character competing against Charlton Heston imagined that he was a frustrated lover trying to win him over, though Heston was never told that at the time.”

A gay subtext was not only not uncommon, it was often played for laughs.

It wasn’t until European directors opened the door that moviegoers got to look in the closet.

French master Francois Truffaut had gay characters, but didn’t make an issue out of it. Italian auteur Pier Paolo Pasolini was not only gay, he explored all kinds of sexuality, beginning with the 1968 “Teorema.”

“And [Federico] Fellini often had gay characters, though his were more seen as decadent,” says Gianetti.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the 1970s German filmmaker, focused on gay men in films such as “Fox and His Friends.” They were tortured by existence, not to mention love.

“But it wasn’t just because they were gay,” says Giannetti. “He saw sex as an ensnarement, especially when love was involved.”

“Dog Day Afternoon,” a 1975 box-office smash, explored a similar pain. The film told the story of a man who robs a bank to pay for his lover’s sex-change operation — a breakthrough for gay cinema, not just for its success, but because it cast Al Pacino in the lead.

Al Pacino took risks in "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Cruising," two important films in the development of gay cinema.

“Pacino also starred in ‘Cruising,’ which was a very brave role,” says Giannetti, referring to the controversial 1980 film in which Pacino is an undercover cop who hangs out in leather bars. “Even today, you won’t see major actors playing gay roles unless they are very comfortable with who they are and how they’re perceived.”

By the ’80s, the gay character came out — without controversy or caricature — in films by Spaniard Pedro Almodovar.

“Almodovar’s films are campy and flamboyant,” says Giannetti. “But they also celebrate people who overcome prejudice and say ‘[expletive] you’ to society.”

By the time “Philadelphia” came out in 1993 — the same year the CIFF’s 10% cinema program started — the gay character is an outsider who, ultimately, finds empathy. Tom Hanks won an Oscar for the film, and it helped raise a broader awareness of AIDS.

Twenty-one years later, it isn’t just about AIDS anymore. But there’s still a long way to go for gay cinema in America.

“In Europe, there’s a lot more gay cinema that is just part of the cinema world,” says Guentzler. “Here, things are branded more as ‘gay’ to connect with an audience, but the down side is that you’re pigeonholing films.”

It points to the biggest hurdle still facing the movement in America.

“If the percentage of the gay population is 10 percent, how are you ever going to make a bigger impact if you don’t cross over?” asks Giannetti. “Unlike sports or the military, the arts is where you can be gay without prejudice – so you would hope that the arts would deliver a little more.”