Customer Reviews

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories Of Lesbian Lives [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a wonderful, insightful, creative documentary that is without equal. It's a must see for all young lesbians! And anyone interested in 'The love that dare not speak it's name'.

Comprised of a series of interviews with lesbians who came out in the 50's and 60's, linked together by a 'dime store novel' style drama that ends the right way. The women interviewed speak with candour, humour and sometimes sadness about their lives in a world that could barely tolerate the independent woman let alone lesbians. Buy it you won't regret it.

This video refers historically to the well-documented butch-femme community that was organized during the 1950's. There is a lovely story within the story that is based on the pulp fiction genre. It encompasses an era when the roles in the lesbian community were more clearly defined. This film is heroic, funny, and celebratory. A must see!

This film gives you insight in the lives of the gay women in Canada. I really had to laugh. For all of you out of the closet, if you've seen this film you realise what has changed!

If you are gay or lesbian, young or old, this is a must see movie. If You are older than 45 than you may remember some of the stylin going on. If you are younger than you should be able to appreciate a stroll down memory lane of lesbian and gay culture. A MUST SEE. I enjoyed it very much.

This documentary uses interveiws, period footage, and a fictive pulp fiction style romance to explore butch and femme roles in the 1950-1960's. The fictive love story ends with some soft-core porn (PG if it was hetero-sexual)and has a radically happy ending. The movie attempts to use a variety of women - a Haida woman, a Costa Riccan woman, a cowpoke, a femme who left her husband... but there is a majority of urban, white, androgynous women. The bias doesn't ruin the point, the point being REAL women's experiences with roles and the larger urban environment, however edited for effect.

A must see movie for all gay people and others....

This is an 'excellent' documentary about how it was to be lesbian in the 50's and 60's. These women are facinating and they sure got my attention all the way. It really makes you realise how easy we have it these days...

All the ladies in the movie are great and all have quite different and interesting stories to tell. The minie movie is a good addition, but the magic would still be there without it.

In my opinion, this is on top of my list of Gay movies, however, it would be great if they would get it out on DVD!

Cheers
Isabelle

The people are magical, and the way it's put together adds another layer of magic. Sure, you learn a little something about one of the long-ago Lesbian subcultures, but more to the point, you get a new picture of what it means to be an Earthling. A must see.

This film was produced in Canada, so all geographical references are Canadian. Nonetheless, this is an engaging oral herstory about lesbian life, using Lesbian Pulp Fiction as a backdrop. Several women, mostly from the "Greatest Generation" plus a couple of baby boomers, tell their stories about what it was like to be gay in the repressive 1940s, 1950s and even the 1960s. The women discuss their realization that they are gay; their social life and networking in the lesbian bars; and, their various relationships with family and girlfriends over the years. They speak of the shabby conditions of the lesbian bars, the police raids and arrests, and the abuse lesbians endured at the hands of the law during these repressive years. Gay women had no recourse at that time; unprotected by the existing laws, these women were at the mercy of the all-male homophobic police force. After being arrested, many were savagely beaten and/or raped. As one of the women wryly observed, "Harrassment? People today don't really know what sexual harrassment is."

The women discuss butch/femme roles, in which some of the women actually played both at one time or another. In between interviews is a re-enactment of a typical lesbian pulp fiction novel, starring Laura and Mitch, which adds a bit of spice to this film.

It is strange to listen to these women who would be my mother's age (mid-to-late 80s, early 90s) if they are still living. These women went through a lot during their time, but you can see their inner strength and resolve, which is quite admirable. Anybody interested in gender studies like myself will find this film quite intriguing. Most importantly, the younger generation should view this film to learn how women of earlier generations paved the way for them.

This is really a fabulous movie--a great companion to the excellent production of the "Beebo Brinker Chronicles" just closed in NY--a dramatization of this important period of lesbian life--the 1950's, a time of odd "freedom" and horrendous repression.

The film is humorous, wise, and informative--very well made. A classic.

Yes, weaving in and out of this lengthy & dull documentary of Canada's lesbian community during the 1950's was a pleasant "mini-movie" showing a pretty blonde farm girl in the big city, finding herself seduced by an ultra-hot dark-haired beauty! It was this movie-within-a-movie that made this one work for me! But next time, Ms. Producer, why not just make a longer erotic mini-flick and leave the documentary stuff for Sixty Minutes?