— Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine from Casablanca, 1942
You are Here » Features » Dallas Buyers Club: James Schamus‘ LGBTQ Cinematic Legacy into FOCUS
February 18, 2014
Share
0
Dallas Buyers Club: James Schamus‘ LGBTQ Cinematic Legacy into FOCUS
— Posted by
Kenny Miles
The significant Oscar recognition for Dallas Buyers Club was obvious when the Academy Award nominations were announced. Honoring the stunning performances of Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto was to be expected as was the Best Picture nomination. However, additional nominations in categories of Original Screenplay, Editing, and Makeup showed how much the Academy adored Dallas Buyers Club. It played well to this group with a perfect combination: an inspiring story of overcoming improbable circumstances and the struggle of an oppressed minority. The raw acting talent made it excel. Now available on DVD/BluRay, Dallas Buyers Club joins other Focus Features titles that have paved the way for LGBTQ cinema.
Mr. McConaughey continues redefining his career in a stunning performance delivering a raw vulnerability of insecurities and self-loathing. Dallas Buyers Club (mostly) avoids fabricating shallow heroism (a weakness of bio-pics) of combating HIV to honestly show someone’s personal ambition to live life which also helps the greater good of his community. He starts a business smuggling drugs from Mexico assisting others while defying the medical establishment & FDA regulation to allow those with AIDS to live with dignity. Mr. Jared Leto (TV’s “My So Called Life,” the band 30 Seconds to Mars) gives the performance of a lifetime. Not since Heath Ledger’s Joker has an actor completely transformed into a kooky, unrecognizable supporting character so incredible it commands every second of screen time. At times Dallas Buyers Club almost suffers when he isn’t there. Mr. Leto as a transgendered individual isn’t indulging in a flamboyant gimmick, but rather becomes consumed in a broken, drug addicted person burdened by an unfamiliar identity. He is living in a judgmental society while dying from AIDS. Many beloved, A-List established actors will never accomplish a performance as fantastic as Leto does here. Mr. Leto recently addressed the controversy of playing a transgendered person as a straight man claiming that gay actors shouldnt be restricted from playing straight characters. These two standout performances are more noticiable with every re-watching of the awards screener.
One could see how Dallas Buyers Club is a fitting final tribute to influential Focus Features CEO James Schamus. Focus Features has made quiet the career on showcasing the struggles and victories of members of the LGBTQ community. When James Schamus started Focus Features, few could have envisioned the numerous, quality movies would come out from the studio reaching beyond the arthouses and into the mainstream. Many of those movies featured LGBTQ characters. In the span of the Focus Features history, numerous releases gave a voice to the LGBTQ that were marginalized beyond the stereotypes of a sassy sidekick in a mainstream comedy.
Here is a look at the Focus Features films that gave a voice to gay movie characters and the award recognition they received:
Far From Heaven (2002)
My Summer of Love (2004)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Milk (2008)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Beginners (2011)
Pariah (2011)
ParaNorman (2012)
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Finally, it is good to point out where Focus Features could potentially be heading as a studio. The acquisition of Focus Features from FilmDistrict will put the progressive indie studio at a crossroads. Sure they could make the same cutting edge features but would face the pressure of an emerging studio wanting to make money. For every movie FilmDistrict released like Drive, Safety Not Guaranteed, and Looper, the studio also distributed the remakes of Red Dawn, Old Boy, and Evil Dead. In honoring James Schamus’ Focus Features legacy, it would be fitting if FilmDistrict continued the tradition of distributing cutting edge and alternative movies instead of carbon copies of what the big studio system releases.
Writers Note: The original post claimed Kent Sanderson was a co-founder of Focus Features and the one who influenced the LGBTQ programming. He reached out to me via email to tell me that is not correct. Mr. Sanderson was on the “distribution side and acquisitions for the “Focus World” slate.” He said all the credit goes to the great James Schamus.
This post was written by :
![]() who has written 297 posts on The Movie Blog Whether something is overlooked by Hollywood or whatever business trend has captured the Entertainment Industry’s attention, Kenny Miles loves to talk about movies (especially the cultural impact of a film). He covers various aspects of movies including specialty genre films, limited release, independent, foreign language, documentary features, and THE much infamous "awards season." Also, he likes to offer his opinion on the business of film, marketing strategy, and branding. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado and is a member of the Denver Film Critics Society critics group. When he isn’t writing, Kenny channels his passion for interacting with moviegoers (something most movie pundits lack) as a pollster for the market research company CinemaScore and working as floor staff/special events coordinator in the film community. You can follow him on Twitter @kmiles723. visit author's website | Contact the Author Around the Web
ZergNet
|
|