Recommendation: Anders als die Andern
Tree recommends…
This 1919 German film was made by Richard Oswald and German sexologist Dr Magnus Hirschfeld.
It is known as the first feature film to sympathetically depict homosexuality and queer culture: For example, it contains a scene at a gay-bar, with men and women freely cross-dressing and dancing with whomever they pleased. In another scene, Körner, a violinist, feels plagued by his “illness” and Dr Hirschfeld reassures him that his nature is just fine, and it is society that causes his strife.
It was far ahead of its time— but in a way, it wasn’t, because if it weren’t for Nazi Germany, and the Hays Code (a censorship code that spanned four decades of Western cinema) we might have made leaps and bounds in the social acceptance of queer people back in the 20s, instead of in the 60s and 70s.
Beautiful stuff.
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