Gay cinema has never been more back than at Cannes, where the festival has screened films like La Bola Negra, Coward and Ira Sachs’s newest film The Man I Love, amongst others like Club Kid, which led to a eight figure bidding war between multiple studios and Jane Schoenbrun’s newest film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Needless to say, it’s clear queer stories are at the forefront of the festival’s selection. Ira Sach’s The Man I Love starring Rami Malek as Jimmy George, a revered theatre artist who is dying from AIDs complications in 1980s New York, an era in which homophobia runs rife, and thousands of men die from a disease which the government fails to address. He is in the middle of rehearsals for a new show, based on the film Once Upon a Time in the East and is cared for by his partner, Dennis (Tom Sturridge), who is suspicious of their new neighbour, Vincent (Luther Ford) and the threat he poses to Jimmy’s recovery and their relationship.
Malek manages to balance the bravado, charisma and the big personality Jimmy has, alongside the tender and more vulnerable parts of him. In exchanges with friends, colleagues, Dennis and Vincent, he is intoxicating. You cannot help but laugh and smile at his jokes and his larger-than-life personality. He is magnetic, and his ability to command a room and make you fall in love with who he is cannot be in doubt, yet at the same time, there is a desperation to be seen and to be revered, a narcissistic side to his larger-than-life persona. Malek could have played the character too flamboyantly, yet there is a tenderness to Jimmy. The framing of Jimmy’s character is well done throughout the film; at parties and in performances, he is the main object to be admired and watched. When he’s struggling with memory recall owing to his health issues and is cared for by his partner, Malek shrinks and feels like another piece of furniture within the set. He is small and fragile and clearly unwell to the point that he is offered an earwig for his performance. At first, he’s reluctant to take it. He insists upon learning his lines because the earwig to him is an admission that he is sick and dying. Malek plays Jimmy as a man who knows his time is up and is determined to leave his mark and be remembered for his artistry, not the cause of his impending death. In one of the final scenes of the film, Jimmy unravels. He goes on a tangent and fails to utter the words fed to him via his earwig. He breaks down crying, begging for a chance to restart, whilst his partner and colleagues get him off stage, to the point they manhandle him to get him off stage. He ends up at the hospital again.
The Man I Love could not be the film it is, and Jimmy could not be a fully formed character if not for the supporting performances from Sturridge's Dennis and Ford's Vincent. Vincent is young and new to the city, having left Britain to go to college in America. Ford plays Vincent like a bright-eyed young actress who has just moved to Hollywood, eager for any opportunity awaiting her. And it works, because Jimmy is so desperate to be loved and admired, and so, he feeds into Vincent's adoration. As it becomes clear they are sleeping together regularly, the film gives us one of its best scenes, which involves Dennis confronting Vincent about sleeping with Jimmy. He is not jealous or overly angry for selfish and petty reasons; he is concerned for Vincent's health and the impact the relationship has on Jimmy's recovery. He thrusts information about Jimmy's condition on him, showing him the medication he organises for the week and in doing so, wants Vincent to see there is more to Jimmy than his public persona. He needs Vincent to see Jimmy's frailty. Vincent does not accept that Jimmy is that sick and continues to beg for his attention until Jimmy no longer wants to humour him.
Ira Sach's has created a film which is both beautifully written and shot. Numerous scenes spring to mind, be it Jimmy's breakdown at the first performance, his struggles in rehearsals or his interactions with his partner Dennis and new lover, Vincent. After hours of loud music at a party hosted by Dennis and Jimmy, we get the sweetest scene of the film. One by one, attendees sing part of a song and Jimmy closes the party by performing a speech from Henry V. There is a reverence for music and for art amongst the guests, and the cultural backdrop of 1980s New York which produced avant-garde and counter cultural art is fitting as the backdrop for how Jimmy's story plays out and how his illness prevents him from performing at the very end.