Torch Song Trilogy Hits Countless High Notes

The 1990s saw an unprecedented resurgence for American Queer cinema in both indie and mainstream circles thanks to the New Queer Cinema movement of the 1990s and high-profile major studio releases with LGBTQA+ lead characters like Philadelphia and The Birdcage. In retrospect, a number of queer films released in the latter half of the 1980s used more forward-thinking storytelling and polished filmmaking to serve as harbingers of the increased profile LGBTQA+ American cinema would have in the following decade. One key example of these harbingers was Torch Song Trilogy, a film adaptation of a trio of Harvey Fierstein plays directed by Paul Bogart and starring Fierstein himself in the role of Arnold Beckoff.


In bringing these stage plays to a singular feature film adaptation, the story is split up into three different time periods that take the viewer from the early 1970s all the way into the 1980s. Our lead character through these years of ups and downs is Arnold Beckoff, a drag performer whose tumultuous relationship with bisexual educator Ed (Brian Kerwin) leaves him heartbroken...until Alan (Matthew Broderick) walks into Arnold's life. The two share a passionate romance, though its one that Arnold's mother Ma (Anne Bancroft) doesn't truly approve of. Navigating his mother is just one of the many hurdles Arnold will have to face over the course of these many years.

Condensing so many years of one man's life that previously took up three separate plays into the span of a solitary movie like Torch Song Trilogy sounds like a fool's errand, but luckily, Harvey Fierstein is around to adapt his own works into a cinematic adaptation. Through the process of adaptation, Fierstein's story moves at a surprisingly nimble pace that manages to balance efficient storytelling with the exploration of Arnold and the people inhabiting his life. Exploring the perspective of Arnold is something Torch Song Trilogy is especially successful at executing, particularly in any of the amusing scenes where Arnold breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience about his unique worldview.

Said worldview heavily influences Fierstein's dialogue in the script, which sees the lead character speaking in an amusingly worldly fashion. Arnold knows himself and the world around him like the back of his hand, no wonder then that he feels so assured in declaring in Torch Song Trilogy's opening sequence that he's "been pretty and young, but never at the same time". It's a line Arnold says not like he's engaging in self-pity, rather, Fierstein's writing and dialogue delivery make it seem like Arnold is just stating a fact as common as "the sky is blue". That's just one humorous example of how well this script uses a vibrantly realized one-of-a-kind protagonist to deliver some equally unique hysterical dialogue.

Fierstein's a riot in the lead role but what really makes Torch Song Trilogy work as a movie is how emotionally invested it gets the viewer into Arnold Beckoff's life. This is a character who can deliver wry comedic line deliveries like there's no tomorrow but when it comes time for the viewer to be emotionally affected by what's happening on-screen, both the character and Fierstein's acting come through in spades to lend substance to Beckoff's turmoil. This is especially apparent in a pivotal graveyard confrontation between Arnold and his mother that sees the usually collected Arnold become increasingly enraged at how his mother is dismissive of the anguish he feels over losing a loved one.

It's a scene where the character's frustration, which feels both singularly specific to this fictional character as well as resonant to LGBTQA+ members whose own pain has been erased for so long in American society, is so viscerally manifested that you can practically feel it coming off the screen. It's one of the most moving sequences that serve as a shining example of how well Torch Song Trilogy works on a character level. Paul Bogart's direction isn't quite as exemplary but it's still plenty competent and has flashes of brilliance while the far more impressive editing beautifully accentuates the comedy of one of the most cleverly executed scenes of Torch Song Trilogy that sees the viewer being taken back-and-forth across numerous different arguments between the four lead characters, all of whom have vividly realized perspectives clashing up against one another. The fact that these perspectives are so alive here in this scene and throughout the rest of the movie is a testament to how well Torch Song Trilogy works as an entertaining character exploration. This is particularly true in regards to its wonderful protagonist Arnold Beckoff who I could have watched navigate the perils of everyday life for a whole slew of sequels!