Love Is Strange

The writer-director Ira Sachs triumphs again with his study of an ageing gay couple in New York.

If asked to select my favourite film by the American independent filmmaker Ira Sachs, I would nominate 2016's Little Men. That choice may seem somewhat ironical since Sachs is a gay writer/director whose films have usually to a greater or lesser extent involved gay subject matter whereas Little Men is an exception to that. However, its quality helps to support the view that all the work which Sachs does is characterised by a human sympathy which ensures its appeal to audiences irrespective of their sexuality.

As it happens, 2014's Love Is Strange, along with its immediate predecessor Keep the Lights On, are the two films of his which, drawing to some extent on autobiographical elements, have a homosexual relationship firmly at their centre. In spite of that the film's attraction is in no way specialised as it puts the focus on an elderly New York couple who have been together for some thirty years or so. George (Alfred Molina) is a teacher in a Catholic school while Ben (John Lithgow), now 71 and the older of the two, is a painter not without health problems. A devoted couple, they decide when same-sex marriages become possible that they should make this commitment. However, taking advantage of these new rights for gay men leads to their undoing: while nothing was explicitly said George, although recognised by many as being gay, was safe in his school job but now that marriage makes his situation official the school board dismiss him from his job.

Essentially a study of the relationship of these two men, Love Is Strange finds its drama in the plight that they now share since George's loss of income necessitates the sale of their home and the search for a new affordable apartment is difficult enough for special arrangements, hopefully temporary, to be necessary despite being contrary to what they want. Thus it is that Ben is taken in by his nephew, Elliot (Darren Burrows), and allowed to live in the limited accommodation that he already shares with his wife (Marisa Tomei) and their young son (Charlie Tahan). As for George, he is helped out by a younger gay couple but he will soon discover the discomfort of being under their roof given their habit of partying at night.

The central situation here is entirely believable as is the setting and in a very adroit cast Alfred Molina is on particularly fine form. To its credit also is the fact that Love Is Strange sidesteps sentimentality, but if it feels less than the masterpiece that it might have been that is down to a screenplay which sometimes falls short by offering passages that seem set up. A striking example comes when Ben's continual comments prove a terrible distraction to Elliot's wife because she is a writer who works at home. This scene is played for humour, but one does not want to believe that Ben could be so inconsiderate being an artist himself and furthermore the wife's failure to speak up about it lacks conviction. Such details prevent Love Is Strange from being as satisfying as the Mike Mills film Beginners (2010), another work featuring an elderly gay character in a leading role. But, if not quite top of the league, Love Is Strange is a heart-felt work which will draw in its audience to identify fully with the problems of its central couple. It is a film that is sympathetic and winning.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan, Eric Tabach, Cheyenne Jackson, Manny Perez,  Christian Coulson, Christina Kirk, John Cullum, Tank Burt.

Dir Ira Sachs, Pro Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Ira Sachs and Jayne Baron Sherman, Screenplay Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, Ph Christos Voudouris, Pro Des Amy Williams, Ed Alfonso Gonçalves and Michael Taylor, Costumes Arjun Bhasin.

Parts & Labor/Faliro House Productions/ Film50/Mutressa Movies/RT Features/an Ira Sachs film Production-Altitude Film Distribution.
94 mins. USA/Greece/Brazil. 2014. Rel: 13 February 2015. Cert. 15.