Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

Kitschy paperback covers from the golden days of pulp fiction frame this documentary about a group of gay Canadian women and their separate stories of growing up lesbian in the 1940s-1960s. The reenactments of "forbidden" stories of passion are a little enervated and weak, but the women themselves are funny, smart, candid and exciting to listen to. There are some great quotes here, and plenty of funny and poignant memories; the only thing the movie isn't is suggestive (it doesn't even flirt with being sexy). Striving (and succeeding) to be informative, we still don't get a sense of the sexual thrill behind the headlines. We learn why a married woman would leave her family and surroundings for the embrace of a lesbian lover, but we don't sense the drive and passion that keeps them together in the face of so many obstacles. **1/2 from ****