collecting #4:
Foreign films, queer love, and sports that will make you cry
Donkey Skin (1970)
French, dir Jaques Demy
Years ago, I was on Tumblr dot com when I stumbled on a gifset from one of the movie blogs I follow. They’re always posting films I’ve never heard of, and that is admittedly where a lot of my watchlist comes from. Trailers are great, real world word of mouth is necessary, but gifmakers often find the very best scenes and moments from a movie and immortalize it in ways that are deeply compelling. Ever since I saw that post, I’ve thought about watching this film.
The problem is, it’s a 1970 French-language fairytale musical. Which is to say, even though it has since become a Criterion classic, for a while it was not easily accessible, especially because you really need to see some of these older technicolor films in high-def in order to fully appreciate the look and feel of the movie.
Thankfully, this was available for free on Kanopy this month! (Go get Kanopy. Free with your library card. A wonderful service.)
The story is definitely unique. I did not know anything going into it except the production design was stunning.
Spoiler alert: it’s about incest!
A king loses his queen and then must find a new wife to support his kingdom…he just so happens to decide that his daughter is the only beautiful princess in the land and he wants to marry her. (Don’t worry, there’s a whole song about why incest is bad!)
The film is goofy as hell, deeply unserious, and yet it’s also one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen. The music is quietly addicting, to the point that I’m still singing the songs weeks later…even though I really have no idea what they’re saying. The costumes are to die for, the sets are gorgeous, the whole thing feels like a strange dream. And also there’s a [redacted] at the end that is completely ridiculous.
Jacques Demy is an iconic French director who’s done a number of films that are in the Criterion collection (which is the marker of a good movie, as we all know), and as a queer man who died of AIDS, I’m really interested to watch more of his work.
What a Relief by Katie Gavin
I have a complex relationship with this 2024 album. I loved the singles, but when the full record released I found it left me wanting. It’s not quite my style of music - nothing at all like the sounds of MUNA, much more “Lilith Fair-core” as Katie describes it - which doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate and enjoy it, it just means I don’t listen to it frequently.
That said, I am starting to come around to a few of the songs, and I feel like bouncing off the walls.
Really it started because I remembered how much I love “Inconsolable.” It’s such a beautiful song, lyrically and instrumentally, and I love how twangy it is. Is it also entirely relatable? Sure! But we won’t dwell on that.
Another track I’ve been enjoying is “Sketches,” a crazy song about how you can shrink yourself to love someone. How you can convince yourself you love someone, and then later discover they were merely a sketch of a person rather than a deep and complete painting. (Totally not at all relatable!)
Then of course, there’s “The Baton” which is a piece about mothers and daughters and the generational trauma of women! It’s simple, much like all these songs are, and yet when that verse kicks in and her mother is coming around the corner, I find myself screaming at the top of my lungs in my car.
MUNA (Katie’s band) also dropped “Dancing on the Wall” this month, possibly the hottest queer-fem video the world has ever seen, and it is currently my top-played song of the year. It’ll be interesting to see if anything tops it in the months to come.
Icarus by K Ancrum
I’ve had K Ancrum on my TBR for years now, but I never picked up her stuff because I was worried I’d outgrown her YA genre. I snagged this one on a whim from the library because Feb was Black History Month, and I later found out that one of my mutuals loves this book. I started it without a lot of expectations — really all I knew is that it’s an Icarus retelling — and from the very first chapter I was instantly hooked.
It’s a YA story about a boy named Icarus whose art-restoration father coerces him into acting as an art thief, and after spending years robbing one specific house without incident, Icarus is discovered by a boy who lives there. While it is somewhat predictable for its retelling properties, it’s also wholly original and it took my breath away. It also focuses a lot on queer friendship which is always something I’m rooting for.
The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025)
Arabic, dir Kaouther Ben Hania
Inspired by true events
If you aren’t familiar, the story of Hind Rajab is one that is cruel in its simplicity. Hind was a five-year-old girl who was murdered by the Israelis. She was in a car with her family as they were shot at in Palestine, and she spent hours on the phone with emergency services asking to be saved.
The film is a true-to-life re-enactment of the call center that was working to save her life. I watched it in theaters with a small collection of people, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a theater so silent in my life when the credits rolled.
There’s no reason to critique this film for film’s sake. It’s brutal, it’s devastating, it’s unfortunately very real. The genocide against Palestinians has gone on for generations and this film is but a small piece of the horror that Israel has wrought on that people. How can you consider something so documentary as “art?” Why would you want to talk about how this was made when it’s about the death of an innocent girl?
And yet, I think we owe it to the production team to both feel this film and view it. To bear witness to the atrocities of genocide while also bearing witness to the incredible creativity of it as movie. Because this level of filmmaking is impressive regardless of — or perhaps because of? in spite of? — its subject matter.
For those unaware of just what they did with this film, the movie is a tight 89min that almost exclusively takes place inside the confines of an emergency call center. We are told in the opening cards that this story is taken from real life, when it happened, what its context is, and that all the voice recordings are the real, original audio files. We watch Omar take a call from five-year-old Hind as she begs to be saved. The team spends the rest of the film trying to coordinate a rescue mission with the Israelis. They ultimately fail.
(Possible spoilers below if you’d prefer to see it first.)
What makes this film so brilliant is three-fold. One: the camera work that feels intimate and intense, full of pull-focus and shaky-cam and up-close shots that are longer than comfortable. I could not stop myself from logging these shots, and they really added to the emotional atmosphere. Two: the acting. While each of these actors is mimicking a real person, it’s easy to forget that they are just acting. Everything is felt so wholly, every person gives their all, from their rage to their tears. And three, which works closely with two and one: the interpolation of the real footage into the filmed footage. At first, it’s just audio recordings. Hind’s voice, nearly sacred, as it echoes over the film through the phones. But over time, we start to hear the real audio from the call-center workers. And then, in a scene that took my breath away, we watch as someone holds up their phone and records video of the moment…and the video is of the real call-center workers in real time as they really handled this call. It’s a simple concept, but one I haven’t seen done in film before, perhaps because the actors are expected to mimic so precisely, perhaps because it’s rare to get such precious archival footage, but no matter the why, it’s a spectacular homage to real life and film. It’s emotional. It’s devastating. It’s impressive as hell.
Hard to watch, but harder to look away from.
The Pitt S2
Everyone’s talking about The Pitt, and rightfully so! Season 2 passed the halfway mark this month, and we are firing on all cylinders right now. This show continues to amaze me, both in its actors and its stories, and I end up in tears almost every single week.
Minor spoilers below through 2x9 if you’re still catching up!
For me, the highlights for this season are Dana (Katherine LaNasa, who won an Emmy for S1), Mohan, Javadi, Santos and our beloved Mel King. And Emma and Joy our newbies!! Ogilvie can rot in hell.
I have really loved seeing Dana’s story diverge from where she ended in S1. Episodes 8&9 especially feel like a breath of fresh air for her character, even though they’re emotionally heavy. And when she has Emma shadowing her, it takes everything to a higher level.
The women this season (as with last) have been absolutely show-stopping, even as they traverse a dozen different levels of trauma and stereotypes and setbacks. Javadi is trying to accommodate her parents’ expectations while being a TikTok star. Mel is nervous about an upcoming deposition and her sister’s potential illness. Santos cannot catch up on her charting, and she’s coping with Langdon’s return. And Mohan is trying to help every patient she can while coming to terms with her now upturned future life plans. And Joy is doing her best to not strangle her newbie partner Ogilvie as he acts like the biggest jackass da Pitt has ever seen.
And now we’re going analogue baby!!!!!!!
Sentimental Value (Score) by Hania Rani
I watched Sentimental Value in theaters at the end of December, but the score only just dropped on streaming recently. Hania does such a fantastic job with anything she creates, and this score is no different. It’s very piano heavy, with most of the pieces being soft and calming, but some of them are a bit more intense. I wish they’d release the score she did for The Summer Book but until then, this will have to be enough.
And Then We Danced (2019)
Georgian, dir Levan Akin
Speaking of Tumblr-inspired watchlists, this is a film I’ve had on my list since 2020. I’ve put it off for years, knowing it wasn’t the right time, but I’m glad I finally forced myself to sit with it. It’s such a breath-taking movie.
The story takes place in Georgia (the country, which is wedged between Turkey and the southwestern tip of Russia, along the Black Sea) and it centers on traditional Georgian dance. A young dancer named Merab is training hard to be apart of an ensemble, and during his training he meets a new dancer, to whom he’s deeply attracted. It’s a sad queer story, but it’s also full of hope and joy and creativity. It’s about brothers. It’s about duty and tradition. It’s about dance.
Miracle (2004)
English (American), dir. Gavin O’Connor
Inspired by true events
I don’t know how I ended up spontaneously choosing to watch this film on the 46th anniversary of the true event, but sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways. In truth, this is one of my best friend’s favorite movies, and since I’d never seen it, I thought I probably should do that for her sake. Especially because it’s hockey season right now. Unbeknownst to me, the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Olympics happened on February 22nd.
This film is one I’ve known about for years, and I vaguely remember when it was released when I was in fourth grade. I never cared for hockey or sports, and truthfully I didn’t think it would be that interesting. But hey, I’m an American. It did kinda make me cry. At one point I even found myself going WOW I LOVE MEN! Only to stop myself mid-thought and go GIRL PLEASE.
The film uses real-life hockey players turned actors to show how Herb Brooks trained a bunch of college-aged boys to beat the Soviets at ice hockey in the Olympics. It’s your typical, emotive, USA-patriotism-through-sports propaganda, but that didn’t stop me from being moved.
While the sports of it all was thrilling, I was most impressed by the production itself, especially the camera work and “stunt” choreography. Mainly, every moment of play was specifically choreographed, and that blew my mind. I would love to watch a behind the scenes doc for this.
Alysa Liu + Amber Glenn
Let me be clear, I am not an Olympics viewer. I have nothing against people who love the Olympics, I wish I cared (more) about sports, but I like cherrypicking the Olympics. I will watch the big updates, read up on the drama, and watch a few links my friends send me. I just really don’t have the patience to be watching any of it live with real fervor.
That said, I did get sucked into watching the US figure-skaters, and I cried.
Obviously other people have written better think-pieces about Alysa Liu than I ever could, but watching her gold-medal winning performance was emotional to say the least. She makes ice skating look effortless and fun, and as someone who has skated maybe twice and hated it both times, I am in awe of her and her story. We can’t have much USA pride (fuck the Men’s USA Hockey team), but damn I love USA women.
Amber hasn’t gotten quite the same hype as Alysa (based on my limited exposure to social media) but her Lady Gaga skate showed up on my dash at one point and I SCREAMED when I watched it. That backbend move had my jaw on the floor. I just love how smoothly she moves.
Then I fell down a rabbit hole and found one of her older skates to “Vampire” and it made me feel a similar way. Women are amazing.
10DANCE (2025)
Japanese, dir Keishi Ōtomo
Adapted from the manga
Keeping with the theme, I did finally sit down to watch this manga adaptation! I have not read the manga, I’m not sure I care to. But! I was really thrilled by this overly-dramatic, homoerotic whirlwind.
Essentially, one Latin dancer and one Ballroom dancer work together to teach each other the other’s form of dance so that they have the chance to compete in the 10 Dance with their respective partners. Needless to say, the two male leads end up developing feelings for each other even if they begin the story as rivals of sorts.
It’s steamy and sensual, and truthfully, it almost felt like there was more sexual tension in this movie than in Heated Rivarly. But it’s also a bit over the top, as most Asian dramas are. You have to lean into the genre to really appreciate it, but once you do that…it’s addicting.
Truthfully, it’s not my favorite film of all time, but bits and pieces of it are so compelling and well-done, and it was the perfect palette cleanser. I loved the camera work (and acting, good grief) during the train scene. I loved the dancing. I loved the main actors. Overall, it’s a great addition to the homoerotic sports genre. Would definitely watch the sequel!
Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
Translated from Chinese
I know I talked about this last year when I read it for the first time, so forgive me for talking your ear off yet again, but I’m rereading Husky/Shizun in preparation for the series finale which is being released in English at the end of March. And it’s making me crazy.
I cannot in good faith recommend this series, but as I’ve been annotating it and it’s been fully consuming me, I can’t not mention it.
The short of it is that this series is a love story. It’s Chinese danmei (gay male romance) fantasy. It’s about a cultivator master and his disciple. The disciple gets reborn as his sixteen-yr-old self getting a second chance at life after spending his last one brutally conquering the world and torturing his shizun to death. It’s about second chances and caring for others and loving yourself and forgiveness. It’s also deeply uncomfortable at times due to the mature content and some of the writing can feel a little young.
But on this reread, I stand by my original opinion; this series is incredibly well-plotted with fantastic characters and a beautiful message.
Wuthering Heights by Charli xcx
I don’t care to add to the chatter about Emerald Fennell because I’ve never read Wuthering Heights and I did not go see the film and it’s none of my business. But! Charli finally put out a new album that isn’t awful and I have had it on repeat for weeks.
I’m firmly anti-brat (not you “360,” I love you) so I’ve been waiting for her next project since she released my beloved Crash in 2022. This album is probably the closest Charli’s ever come to making a Taylor Swift record. Is it my favorite Charli record? No! But how was she going to top how i’m feeling now or even Crash? I just needed an album that wasn’t Brat. And I’m obsessed with the soundscapes she’s exploring here.
I did want something more like “House” and less like “My Reminder” but I think the entire record is just INTERESTING. It’s pop music but it’s also orchestral and atmospheric. It’s love songs but they’re all a little bit off.
Favorites at the moment include: “My Reminder,” “Dying For You,” “Eyes of the World,” “Out of Myself,” and “Wall of Sound”