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Written by Gregg Shapiro
Jun 3, 2010
“Fish out of Water”
Ky Dickens never intended to make a film about religion and homosexuality. But after coming out during her senior year of college at socially conservative Vanderbilt, located in the “strap of the bible belt,” being rejected by sorority sisters and finding no community to speak of, that’s precisely what she did.
Dickens’ documentary “Fish out of Water” (First Run Features/Yellow Wing) follows her as she talks to preachers in Nashville about the gross misinterpretation of the Bible on the subject of homosexuality. She learns a few things about theology, biblical language and the ministry of Jesus. Following the renewal of hope that was the 2008 presidential election and the disappointment of the passage of state anti-gay marriage amendments, Dickens interviewed more than 170 members of the LGBT community and almost a dozen people of the cloth, in New York, Kansas, Georgia, Iowa, Colorado and Missouri.
Along with the interviews, the film incorporates footage of same-sex weddings and LGBT rights protests. This footage is enhanced by Daniel Saunders’ animation and Kyle Harter’s illustrations. One of the pleasures of this film is learning things along with the filmmaker, which demonstrates the belief that “no fish was created to live out of water.”
DVD special features include bonus interviews, director’s comments and resource and study guides.
“Hannah Free”
When I interviewed actress Sharon Gless in 2000, she was in the play “Cahoots,” written by lesbian playwright Claudia Allen. Gless already had a following in the LGBT community from her role as tough-cookie cop Christine Cagney on “Cagney & Lacey.” That following would grow considerably when she was cast as Debbie, colorful mother of gay Michael and sister of gay Vic, in “Queer As Folk.” So when word began to circulate that Gless would be starring in “Hannah Free” (Wolfe), the first film adaptation of an Allen play, it made complete sense, given the history.
In “Hannah Free,” (Wolfe Video/Ripe Fruit), formerly footloose Hannah (Gless) is in her twilight years, nursing-homebound and none too happy about it. When she’s not chasing the nursing staff from her room, she’s reminiscing about chasing a red ball through a cornfield with childhood gal pal Rachel (Elita Ernsteen). The elderly Rachel (Maureen Gallagher), with whom Hannah had a lifelong romance, is on life support in the same nursing home as Hannah.
But Rachel’s homophobic daughter Marge (a painfully miscast Taylor Miller), sporting oversized Christian hair and New Testament fashions, has forbidden Hannah from ever seeing Rachel.Hannah carries on imaginary conversations with the mid-period Rachel (a stiff Ann Hagemann) to get her mind off fears of Rachel dying alone. They tease and provoke each other. They recall intimate details about their lengthy love affair, which included Rachel’s marriage, motherhood and the itinerant Hannah’s life experiences and travels. Their love endured, despite Rachel’s return to her Bible after having sex in the barn with Hannah.
Enter Greta (Jacqui Johnson), the great-granddaughter of Rachel and granddaughter of Marge. Greta is a college-aged, out lesbian who leads Hannah to believe that she wants to interview her for a class assignment. She offers to wheel Hannah down to Rachel’s room late one night so that she can see her. Greta is there to ensure that Hannah and Rachel get the closure they deserve.
Gless is quite good here. The fatal and damning flaw is Allen’s awkward, stilted and simply boring screenplay. The endless exposition repeatedly brings the film to a screeching halt. It’s a case of too much telling and not enough showing. Perhaps she was afraid that she would alienate the show’s diehard lesbian fans if she deviated from the original play too much. What she ends up with is characters, especially the mid-period Rachel, who speak in unintentionally funny ways that result in numerous laughs. On the “Claire of the Moon” scale, consider yourself mooned.
“Hannah Free” DVD bonus features include interviews with Gless (in which she talks about “Cagney & Lacey’s” lesbian following, among other things), playwright Claudia Allen, director Wendy Jo Carlton, as well as cast and crew members. You also will find bloopers, a look behind the scenes, the theatrical trailer and more.
