For this episode along with my guest will be dissecting Derek Jarman’s historical, religious, but ultimately queer debut Sebastiane.
Released in 1976, is set in a sun drenched rocky coast line of the Mediterranean island of Sardinian. With a dialogue entirely in Latin, Sebastiane tells the story of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.
The film is not a biopic by any means but more of a queer BDSM interpretation of this biblical story. The film, was seen as one of the first unlicensed ‘underground’ queer films, which was allowed into the public spaces of commercial cinema and television and one that featured positive images of gay sexuality, in comparison to previously released queer films. But also, interestingly it was also the first ever film passed by the British Board of Film Censors that depicted an erect penis.
To talk to me about the film, I invited along film critic and writer Robert Stinner. It’s a conversation I very much enjoyed where we able to discuss in depth the films audacious homoeroticism, its timelessness and its influence on future queer filmmaking.
Thank you for listening!
Music: James Jones @james-jones-music
Follow us on I: @ltcompanion / F: @LongtimeCompanion
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For this episode along with my guest will be dissecting Derek Jarman’s historical, religious, but ultimately queer debut Sebastiane.
Released in 1976, is set in a sun drenched rocky coast line of the Mediterranean island of Sardinian. With a dialogue entirely in Latin, Sebastiane tells the story of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.
The film is not a biopic by any means but more of a queer BDSM interpretation of this biblical story. The film, was seen as one of the first unlicensed ‘underground’ queer films, which was allowed into the public spaces of commercial cinema and television and one that featured positive images of gay sexuality, in comparison to previously released queer films. But also, interestingly it was also the first ever film passed by the British Board of Film Censors that depicted an erect penis.
To talk to me about the film, I invited along film critic and writer Robert Stinner. It’s a conversation I very much enjoyed where we able to discuss in depth the films audacious homoeroticism, its timelessness and its influence on future queer filmmaking.
Thank you for listening!
Music: James Jones @james-jones-music
Follow us on I: @ltcompanion / F: @LongtimeCompanion
EPISODE 20: The Haunting - Interview With Visual Artist Jonny Long
Longtime Companion
43 minutes 47 seconds
2 years ago
EPISODE 20: The Haunting - Interview With Visual Artist Jonny Long
The Haunting (1963)
Directed by Robert Wise, it tells the story of a haunted house, centred around a group of individuals who for a research project gather and spend time at the house in a bid to prove the presence of paranormal activity. It’s a film that has influenced the horror genre greatly, spawning, reinterpretations, and remakes, including a Netflix series.
Horror is a fertile genre for queer depictions. In the past horror filmmakers visualised queerness and ‘the other’ as monsters or vampires, in a bid to talk about queer topics. Beings that were dangerous and threatening to religious values, the family unit and society in general. Yet, is not the case with the representation in The Haunting, which is now seen as a subtle queer gem
The film's queerness lies with the character Theodora (Claire Bloom) an empowered, modern, independent woman, the antithesis of the usual queer depictions (of the time and since) portrayed either as monstrous or predatory or is these depressed meek individuals. In the podcast we further look at her relationship and possible mutual attraction with the film's protagonist Nell (Julia Harris).
For this episode we invited along visual artist and animator Jonny Long, where we investigate both the film's queer and horror credentials.
Links: substack.com/daniel-theophanous
Music: James Jones @james-jones-music
Follow us on I: @ltcompanion / F: @LongtimeCompanion
Longtime Companion
For this episode along with my guest will be dissecting Derek Jarman’s historical, religious, but ultimately queer debut Sebastiane.
Released in 1976, is set in a sun drenched rocky coast line of the Mediterranean island of Sardinian. With a dialogue entirely in Latin, Sebastiane tells the story of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.
The film is not a biopic by any means but more of a queer BDSM interpretation of this biblical story. The film, was seen as one of the first unlicensed ‘underground’ queer films, which was allowed into the public spaces of commercial cinema and television and one that featured positive images of gay sexuality, in comparison to previously released queer films. But also, interestingly it was also the first ever film passed by the British Board of Film Censors that depicted an erect penis.
To talk to me about the film, I invited along film critic and writer Robert Stinner. It’s a conversation I very much enjoyed where we able to discuss in depth the films audacious homoeroticism, its timelessness and its influence on future queer filmmaking.
Thank you for listening!
Music: James Jones @james-jones-music
Follow us on I: @ltcompanion / F: @LongtimeCompanion
