the love that cannot be spoken, heard, or seen
by Douglas Messerli
It’s interesting that in the short
time that LGBTQ directors have been able to begin making pictures fully
focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender love that a fairly
sophisticated group of films have been made in the 21st century regarding men
who are physically impaired by being blind, deaf, or mute. One of these,
unfortunately, treats the issue a bit more like a comic routine rather than a
serious exploration of the difficulties these individuals have in finding gay
partners in an already lonely world; yet in each of the seven films I discuss
below (one simply an expansion of an early version), I am moved by the basic
sense of positivity and hope these directors display in the inevitability of
deaf, blind, or mute individuals pairing up with others who, although they
don’t have those impairments surely have as many if not more others. In almost
all the films I discuss below, it appears that those without the ability to
hear, speak, or see are more loving and simply beautiful figures than their
partners.
The schoolboys David and Leonardo of the Mexican director Roberto
Fiesco’s film David and Brazilian Daniel Ribeiro’s I Don’t Walk to Go
Back Alone and The Way He Looks, as well as the slightly older
figures of Brett, Alex, Aaron, Niall, and Mike in US directors Rory Dering’s Pittsburgh,
Andrew Keenan-Bolger’s Sign, Julio Dowansingh’s Louder Than Words,
and Aleksei Borovikov’s Glances are all true beauties who shine much
more brightly than their companions. And through them I felt deep love and
empathy—without pity or worry—for their characters. And despite the
difficulties these individuals obviously daily face, they have all found ways
to bring great joy and love to their worlds.
Certainly there are probably other films on homosexuals who have
problems with locomotion and mental difficulties before and after the ones I
have selected. The important thing is that within a culture that has been
historically so connected with physical beauty and mental agility that these
issues are beginning to be explored. And I look forward to more of these sorts
of films in the future.
Los Angeles, October 23, 2025
Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog
(October 2025).
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