Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) Queer Film (A)

FEATURES THE FIRST AFFECTIONATE ONSCREEN KISS BETWEEN TWO MEN IN A TALKING MOTION PICTURE

DIRECTOR: John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday remains one of the most quietly revolutionary films of the early 1970s—a mature, compassionate study of a bisexual triangle that refuses melodrama in favor of emotional truth. At its center is Bob Elkin (Murray Head), a young sculptor whose restless charm binds two lovers who know about each other yet accept the arrangement rather than lose him: Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson), a divorced recruitment consultant, and Dr. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch), a middle‑aged gay Jewish physician.
The film’s brilliance lies in its refusal to judge any of them. Instead, Schlesinger observes how loneliness, compromise, and the hunger for connection shape their choices. Although the narrative initially seems to tilt toward Alex—Jackson’s intelligence and volatility make her the more conventional “romantic lead”—it is Finch who ultimately deepens the film. His Daniel is one of the first unapologetically gay characters in mainstream cinema: self‑possessed, emotionally articulate, and free of the self‑loathing that marked so many queer roles of the era. Compared to the tortured souls of Midnight Cowboy, Finch’s doctor is practically radiant.
His closing monologue, delivered directly to the camera—“I am happy, apart from missing him”is one of the great grace notes in queer film history: tender, dignified, and devastating in its simplicity. It is also one of the finest pieces of acting ever captured on film.
Penelope Gilliatt’s original screenplay received an Oscar nomination, as did Jackson and Finch, whose performances remain the film’s enduring legacy.

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https://thebrownees.net/midnight-cowboy-1969-film-review/
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https://thebrownees.net/85-queer-films-from-the-new-hollywood-1968-1980/
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