Certain, “Sundown Boulevard” won’t be the primary film you consider textual queer cinema, however this movie’s inclusion is perfection. The majority of the movie is concerning the unusual relationship between struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) and getting older starlet Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), in addition to tackling themes of trade abuse, sexism, and ageism. Like most of director Billy Wilder’s movies, it’s wealthy with considerate factors on the state of Hollywood, however on a floor degree, it does not appear very queer in any respect.
Nonetheless, once you learn between the strains, it truly makes whole sense why Van would have its poster hanging in each her condominium and the shop. “Sundown Boulevard” is arguably one of many hallmarks of camp because of Swanson’s dramatic and wide-ranging efficiency. In a single scene, she will be melancholy earlier than being dramatically indignant within the subsequent. As Emblem TV as soon as wrote, Norma is “drama for drama’s sake,” even evaluating the character to famously melodramatic drag queen Alyssa Edwards. One may even make the argument that the connection between Joe and Norma is one which mirrors that of a drag mom and a drag daughter. Irrespective of the way you interpret “Sundown Boulevard,” it has its personal distinctive mark on queer cinema, and it is nice that “Yellowjackets” has acknowledged that.