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Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont
written by Ruth Saks
(based on the 1971 novel by Elizabeth Taylor)
directed by Dan Ireland
starring Joan Plowright, Lorcan O'Toole, Rupert Friend
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Thanks to the great tradition of American consumerism, the month of June-- in celebration of political riots in the streets of New York-- has become the traditional month for releasing "gay movies." Many cities have GLBT film festivals and public TV re-screens the same old documentaries, many of them quite good, that have been kicking around for a decade. This June, tradition-- once fraught with excitement-- is now so expected that it usually goes unmentioned. Indeed, the "big" movie that's opening at GLBT festivals this year is titled Another Gay Movie (plot description in Internet Movie Database: "Four gay high-school friends make a pact to lose their virginity before they go to college")-- which pretty much sums it up. Another Gay Movie may even be fun, but the fact remains that it's, well, another gay movie being released in gaypridejunefestivalmoviemonth.

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So if you want a gay movie that is not a gay movie and yet totally gay (in an old fashioned sort of way) try Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, a lovely new film written by Ruth Saks and directed by Dan Ireland that's playing at independent film theaters and will probably be on DVD within a few months.

There are no horny gay teens in Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, nor are there doomed closeted shepherds, feisty transgender people, or fag-hag friends with razor-sharp tongues. In fact there are no gay people at all, but the film exudes a traditional gay sensibility that's no longer in vogue (and when it does emerge in films such as Ladies in Lavender or Mrs. Henderson Presents is usually wan and wearying).

Based on the great 1971 novel by Elizabeth Taylor-- no, not the Elizabeth Taylor but the esteemed British novelist who wrote 12 novels between 1945 and 1975-- Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont tells the simple story of an older British woman, upper-middle-class but in slightly distressed circumstances, living in a shabby residential hotel, who discovers the excitement of an entirely new life when she is only looking for peace and quiet. Ruth Saks has updated Taylor's novel-- without too many problems-- and translated it to the screen, capturing not only the original's sense of gentility, but its irony and striking political message about families and relationships.

The plot of Mrs. Palfrey is slight, but extremely satisfying. After Mrs. Palfrey (Joan Plowright) moves to the Claremont Hotel, she expects to spend some time with her grandson Desmond (Lorcan O'Toole), who works at the British Museum. She speaks about him to her new friends-- an odd bunch of social misfits and loners-- all of whom are excited to see a new face in their drab world. Desmond, it turns out, is a rotter, too self-involved to visit his grandmother. One day while out walking, Mrs. Palfrey falls and is helped to her feet by Ludovic Meyer (Rupert Friend), a charming young man who lives on the edge in subletted flats and makes money as a busker in London tube stations. He's also a writer, and a genuinely loving person. Mrs. P.-- as he comes to call her-- invites him to tea at the Claremont, and when everyone believes him to be her grandson, she never corrects them. Ludovic loves the idea of this game, as well as really liking Mrs. P, and they begin spending a great deal of time together.

Nothing much happens plotwise-- the Claremont denizens have their little quirks, Mrs. Palfrey has a rather dismal date with a fellow pensioner, Ludo gets a girlfriend-- but the story turns on the gentle, but startling, transformation of two lives: Mrs. P gets a grandson who adores her, and Ludo gets the loving mother he never had. Both, in other words, find nurturing family. In a culture that constantly tells us that our biological families are the shelter in a heartless world, and that marriage is more important than friendships-- both notions refuted by how gay people have lived their lives-- Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a strikingly bold, and queer, statement.

Dan Ireland's direction is warm without ever being sentimental, and he has a keen eye for emotional detail. Ireland has directed interesting films in the past. His 1998 The Velocity of Gary was a gripping-- if messy-- drama about a group of people dealing with life, AIDS, and New York. It starred Selma Hayek and Vincent D'Onofrio (as a bisexual hustler) and was too edgy to get much mainstream attention, and too not-traditionally-gay to get much gay attention. Ireland's 1996 The World Wide World-- with Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweger-- told the story of Novalyne Price and Robert E. Howard, the pulp writer who created Conan the Barbarian in the1930s. It was a quirky love story with incredible energy.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is not a great movie-- but it is smart, moving, and authentic. Joan Plowright gives her best performance in years (which is faint praise, since she's mostly been giving a canned "Joan Plowright performance" for two decades). Or at least Plowright never gives Mrs. Palfrey anything less than complete emotional credence. As for Ludo Rupert Friend-- he was the evil Mr. Wickham in Pride & Prejudice last year and the tragic, gay Billy Downs in 2004's The Libertine-- he is perfect: never overplaying the "free spirit" aspect of the character and generating a truly caring, but independent personality that radiates a confused warmth. In the smaller roles of some of The Claremont's odd inhabitants, Anna Massey, Millicent Martin, Michael Culkin, and Marcia Warren are in the grand tradition of British eccentric character-actors. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a terrific film, far better than most you will see this summer, and well worth the trip to the theater or video store.

Author Profile:  Michael Bronski
	Michael Bronski is the author of Culture Clash: The Making of Gay Sensibility and The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom. He writes frequently on sex, books, movies, and culture, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
	Email:	mabronski@aol.com