look up and know that there is always light Meeting Maxine Peake
at the end of the tunnel. That’s how Niko is.
She knows what’s happening at home isn’t
normal. Soccer is her happy place.”
One of the most intriguing aspects of
QOTW is how the love story is undeniably
accepted and intricately woven into the plot,
regardless of the fact that it involves two
women. “I know how it feels to be attracted
to someone when you are both training so
hard for the same sport,” says Caster. “I love
the love story and how two people come
together because of the same passion.”
“[It] might be my favorite thing about
the film,” adds Pacent. “It’s not a coming-out
story, there is no need for it. The fact that
Maggie can just go through this coming-
of-age process without a huge magnifying
glass on, it is fantastic. This story could have
easily been about a guy and a girl, too. It’s
treated with such normalcy.”
That aspect of “normalcy” is also what
attracted Clunie to the role of Maggie’s
mom, Vicky. “I thought of it as a film about
girls who want to play soccer, a mom who
loves her daughter and a love story,” she says.
“It’s so nice to see a mother portrayed in film
or television where she finds out that her
son or daughter is gay and that it’s not such
a big deal. That was the moment that made
me want to do the film, and that’s what I love
about this film. It can be mainstream.”
While QOTW has everything a clas-
sic mainstream sports movie should have
(a love story, drama, the overcoming of
obstacles, an underdog), some might still
consider this a “lesbian film.”
Robertson says they’d be mistaken. “I’m
very adamant that this is not a lesbian film…
this is a sports drama. It is very important,
in my opinion, that we stop singling out
films as gay or lesbian, because this creates
the stereotype that gay people are still dif-
ferent than the rest of society. I am making a
film about women’s soccer and one woman’s
journey. Along the way, this woman falls in
love. It shouldn’t really matter that she falls
in love with another woman.”
Robertson also hopes that QOTW will
transcend both sexual and gender boundaries,
and brings some much-needed attention to
women’s soccer, which recently relaunched
its professional league.
“There are 30 million women who play soccer
Retts Wood
in the world,” says Robertson. “It’s time that a
story truly represents all that we go through to
make it to the professional arena.”n
Kicking off 2010’s Frameline Film Festival,
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister
dazzled audiences with its sumptuous
atmosphere and complex characters. Based
on the real-life lesbian trailblazer who wrote
her diaries in code, the film follows Lister as
she takes a stand against society and battles
through the pain of heartbreak, determined
to live and love on her own terms.
One of the many highlights of Diaries is
the British actor Maxine Peake, who brings
life and a boundless energy to her portrayal
of Anne Lister. In addition to visiting Lister’s
home at Shibden Hall, near Halifax in the
West of Yorkshire, Peake also geared up
for the part by visiting Helena Whitbread,
the editor who decoded the diaries and
published them in the 1990s.
Peake sought details from the editor and
historian about Lister’s life.“I went over to
see Helena, who lives not far from where
Anne was born and brought up, and spent the
day grilling her about who she thinks Anne
was. She spent 20 years researching and
deciphering Anne’s diary, so she seems to be
the only person who really knows. And that
really helped, actually. I mean, you’re so lucky
with characters like that, who have diaries.
You’ve got it all there.”
Popular depictions of 19th-century
England often rely on images of stuffy
dresses and even stuffier tea parties, but
according to Peake, things weren’t as dif-
ferent as we might think.
“You’re used to the Jane Austen account
of how things were,” Peake laughs. “You
get the impression that it’s all very staid and
very stiff and very prim—but reading Anne’s
diaries, it seemed a lot freer in those days
than I think we are used to. They seemed
to have had a good time. After all, Anne
seduced a lot of married women. And not
necessarily lesbians—she just had seemed
to have this power over women.”
One such woman is Mariana Belcombe
(played by Anna Madeley), with whom Lister
carries on a highly passionate and physical
relationship. Sadly, matters of love come
second to matters of finance, and Belcombe
ends up marrying a much older man to
secure her station in society. This is an
accurate reflection of the economic realities
of the 19th century.
“You get the feeling that a lot of those
marriages weren’t about love,” the actor
laments. “Mariana is a case in point of how
it seemed to work for a majority of women
in those days.” Peake explains that this is
part of what makes Lister such a unique and
courageous individual.
“I think Anne’s a role model for young
lesbians—well, lesbians of any age,
actually—and I think she’s a role model for
anyone, really, because she lived her life as
she wanted to. She was bullied for it, and
she was persecuted for it, but she stuck
true to who she was. She saw herself as a
person. And I think that’s what we should all
do. It shouldn’t have anything to do with your
gender or sexuality.”
As far as the way women are portrayed
in film nowadays, Peake is less than
enthusiastic.
“I do think it’s funny how, when you read
a lot of scripts, the woman often seems sort
of like a pathetic, naggy ex-wife. And I think,
Well, let’s look at why she’s a naggy ex-wife.
I mean, it’s either the mistress or the wife—
and I’ve been trying to stay away from those
stereotypes. They say that sex sells, but it’s
just so boring.”
Peake got her start at 13, acting in plays
for the Bolton Octagon Youth Theatre. At
21, she went to study drama at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where
she spent three years. She has been working
regularly ever since, but only recently has she
been able to spread her wings as an artist.
“I’ve always worked, but it’s been sort
of a gradual build-up of parts. I did a
comedy called Dinnerladies, where I was
this sort of monosyllabic character called
Twinkle, and then I’ve done quite a bit
of theater. In the last couple of years it’s
shifted, really. The parts have started to
get more diverse and interesting. And that
includes strong women.”
Peake’s current project involves playing
another strong woman character—Martha
Costello, a single and determined defense
barrister in the six-part BBC series Silk.
[Lisa Gunther]
November/December 2010 | 53