“The very fact that homosexuality as a condition is presented honestly and unsensationally, with due regard for the dilemma and the pathos, makes this an extraordinary film.”
Screened in tribute to Sylvia Sims (1934 - 2023)
Dirk Bogarde stars as Melville Farr: a promising young barrister whose career and apparently idyllic marriage to his loving wife Laura (Sylvia Syms) are threatened when blackmailers link Farr to a young gay man (Peter McEnery). As it turns out, Farr is a closeted homosexual, but instead of giving in, Farr decides to fight... Given that homosexuality was still considered a crime in 1961 (the archaic Buggery Act of 1533 would not be repealed until 1967) Victim proved highly controversial to the British Board of Film Censors (in the U.S. it was refused a seal of approval from the American Motion Picture Production Code) but is now regarded as a classic of British cinema, as well as having been credited for liberalizing attitudes towards homosexuality in the UK.
