Paul Struthers: The Films That Changed My Life

FilmInk Staff

TOTALLY FUCKED UP

I saw this film when I just came out as gay. It really changed everything for me about being gay. Before that most of the queer content I had seen on screen was typical media gay representation, but as the characters in this film are so diverse in their tastes, style and everything about their lives, it really made me realise that being gay, you can be anything you want to be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6eLzb4EpEY

THE RETURN

I was interning at a film distribution company in London when they released The Return from Russia. I found it to be an extraordinary film about family relationships.

THE GREEN RAY (and most films by Eric Rohmer)

I love the films of Eric Rohmer. Particularly The Green Ray as it mixes realism and fantasy so well. It stars Marie Riviere, and her character in this film is one everyone can relate to, if they have had their heart broken. The dialogue, and encounters in the film, are so real that you feel like you are a character in the film. After seeing this, I consumed many of his other films, and it helped me get over heartbreaks faster, haha.

PORTRAIT OF JASON

We played this at Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival, and it’s a very addictive film. It’s about a hustler who is filmed in a hotel room, telling his life story, as he gets stoned and drunk. What he reveals is both funny and sad; it is something you will never see in real life or film. It makes you think that the textbook conventions of filmmaking can be broken to great effect.

FEAR EATS THE SOUL

I love Fassbinder, and this film made me realise how hard it must have been for my parents as a multi-racial couple in the ‘70s. The scene in the park when the woman screams at everyone is simply heartbreaking.