There are many movies with gay themes that have been made over the past two decades – many of them quite excellent.

There are two, in particular, that come to mind for comment here. “Far From Heaven,” starring Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore and directed by Todd Haynes – made in 2002 – is set in the 1950’s and shot in the style of the famous melodramas of that era. (“All That Heaven Allows” starring Jane Wyman and directed by Douglas Sirk, for example)

Frank and Cathy Whitaker with their happy family.

This movie captures the agony and turmoil of the homosexual man; in this case, a man who is married with children. It follows his furtive, late-night journeys through dark alleys and the local dives and, ultimately into the center of his disintegrating marriage. “Far From Heaven,” the winner of many awards, strains mightily for verisimilitude but is, in my opinion, overburdened by attempting to shoot in the 50’s style. Interesting but, ultimately, strangely distracting. However, it captures the anguish of the homosexual professional man of that period!

“Cruising” with Al Pacino and directed by William Friedkin is a creepy thriller set in the late ‘70’s in New York’s gay S&M bars. Pacino plays an undercover cop on the trail of a serial killer who targets those gay men who frequent this wild and lurid world.

Al Pacino haunts the infamous bar scene where the serial killer stalks his victims.

Pacino’s performance and the background of the leather bars with their notorious, sexual excess distinguish an otherwise mid-level, serial-killer story.

But, shot in 1979, it reveals a societal attitude towards homosexuality that has not changed all that much from two decades earlier. The resolution of “Cruising” is provocative and designed to start conversations! This plus the scary and shocking mise en scene give “Cruising” the cult status it now enjoys.