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Go Fish (film)
Encyclopedia
Go Fish is a 1994 American
lesbian
-themed independent
drama film
. Directed and co-written (with her then-girlfriend Guinevere Turner
) by Rose Troche
, the film tells the story of the interrelationships of a small group of lesbian friends in Chicago
. The narrative is broken up by a number of discussions on lesbian issues, dream sequences, commentary that breaks the fourth wall
and moments of free verse
poetry. Go Fish was part of a wave of LGBT-themed films that appeared in the mid-1990s.
who has gone ten months without having sex. She and her roommate and college professor Kia are in a coffee shop when they run into Ely, a hippie
ish woman with long braided hair, whom Max initially dismisses. Max and Ely do end up going to a movie together. After the movie they return to Ely's place and, after some flirtatious conversation, they kiss. Suddenly a call comes in from Ely's (unseen on-screen) partner Kate, with whom Ely has been in a long-distance relationship for more than two years, which puts a bit of a damper on things.
Ely decides to cut off all her hair, ending up with a very short butch
style. She runs into Max in a bookstore and Max almost does not recognize her.
Kia's girlfriend Evy returns home. Her ex-boyfriend Junior is there. Evy's mother confronts her, saying that Junior told her
that he had spotted Evy at a gay bar. Evy's mother kicks her out and Evy flees to Kia's place and Max invites her to live with them.
Ely and her roommate Daria throw a dinner party and, after a spirited game of I Never, Max and Ely reconnect. They make plans to go out again and then begin kissing. They have several phone conversations, in the course of which Ely reveals that she's "sort of broken up" with Kate. They get together for a second date but they never make it out of the apartment. Max ends up trimming Ely's fingernails. This turns into foreplay
and they have sex. Intercut with the closing credits are shots and short scenes of Max and Ely's burgeoning relationship.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
-themed independent
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
. Directed and co-written (with her then-girlfriend Guinevere Turner
Guinevere Turner
Guinevere Turner is an American actress, writer and director. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She is best known as the screenwriter of such films as American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page and for playing the lead role of the dominatrix Tanya Cheex in Preaching to the Perverted.-...
) by Rose Troche
Rose Troche
Rose Troche is a film and television director, television producer, and screenwriter. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and attended film school, earning a degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago...
, the film tells the story of the interrelationships of a small group of lesbian friends in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The narrative is broken up by a number of discussions on lesbian issues, dream sequences, commentary that breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
and moments of free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
poetry. Go Fish was part of a wave of LGBT-themed films that appeared in the mid-1990s.
Plot
Max is a young lesbian student in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
who has gone ten months without having sex. She and her roommate and college professor Kia are in a coffee shop when they run into Ely, a hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
ish woman with long braided hair, whom Max initially dismisses. Max and Ely do end up going to a movie together. After the movie they return to Ely's place and, after some flirtatious conversation, they kiss. Suddenly a call comes in from Ely's (unseen on-screen) partner Kate, with whom Ely has been in a long-distance relationship for more than two years, which puts a bit of a damper on things.
Ely decides to cut off all her hair, ending up with a very short butch
Butch and femme
Butch and femme are LGBT terms describing respectively, masculine and feminine traits, behavior, style, expression, self-perception and so on. They are often used in the lesbian, bisexual and gay subcultures...
style. She runs into Max in a bookstore and Max almost does not recognize her.
Kia's girlfriend Evy returns home. Her ex-boyfriend Junior is there. Evy's mother confronts her, saying that Junior told her
Outing
Outing is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
that he had spotted Evy at a gay bar. Evy's mother kicks her out and Evy flees to Kia's place and Max invites her to live with them.
Ely and her roommate Daria throw a dinner party and, after a spirited game of I Never, Max and Ely reconnect. They make plans to go out again and then begin kissing. They have several phone conversations, in the course of which Ely reveals that she's "sort of broken up" with Kate. They get together for a second date but they never make it out of the apartment. Max ends up trimming Ely's fingernails. This turns into foreplay
Foreplay
In human sexual behavior, foreplay is a set of intimate psychological and physically intimate acts between two or more people meant to create desire for sexual activity and sexual arousal. Either or any of the sexual partners may initiate the foreplay, and they may not be the active partner during...
and they have sex. Intercut with the closing credits are shots and short scenes of Max and Ely's burgeoning relationship.
Cast
- Guinevere TurnerGuinevere TurnerGuinevere Turner is an American actress, writer and director. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She is best known as the screenwriter of such films as American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page and for playing the lead role of the dominatrix Tanya Cheex in Preaching to the Perverted.-...
as Camille 'Max' West - V.S. Brodie as Ely
- T. Wendy McMillan as Kia
- Anastasia Sharp as Daria
- Migdalia Melendez as Evy
The issues
- Kia teaches a Women's studiesWomen's studiesWomen's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
class and has her students list off lesbians from history. Mixed in with the serious answers (e.g. SapphoSapphoSappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
) are humorous examples like Marilyn QuayleMarilyn QuayleMarilyn Tucker Quayle is an American lawyer, novelist, and political figure who is the wife of former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and held the unofficial title of Second Lady of the United States from 1989 until 1993....
, Peppermint PattyPeppermint PattyPatricia "Peppermint Patty" Reichardt is a fictional character featured in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. A freckle-faced auburn/brunette, she is one of a small group in the strip who lives across town from Charlie Brown and his school friends...
and "the entire cast of RoseanneRoseanne (TV series)Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
." When a student asks why they're even making the list, Kia replies that throughout lesbian history there's been a lack of evidence about what women's lives were about, and that lesbian lives and relationships barely exist on paper at all. It's by keeping that in mind and understanding the power of history that "we" (presumably meaning lesbians) will want to start to change history. - Following a movie, Ely and Max (played by the film's co-writer and associate producer) have something of a meta-conversationMetafictionMetafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
about the responsibility of queer filmmakers to represent the community. - Max and Ely talk about the butch/femme dichotomy and gender roles and expectations.
- Daria has sex with a man and on her way home is challenged by a "jury," who question whether a woman who has sex with a man can call herself a lesbian. She contrasts how a gay man who has sex with a woman is characterized as being "bored, drunk [or] lonely" but if a lesbian has sex with a man "her whole life choice becomes suspect."
- On a lighter note, several of the characters debate their favorite term for vaginaVaginaThe vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
. Suggestions include "honeypot," "love mound,", "rapehole", "girlpatch," "cunt" and "bearded clam."
Awards and nominations
- Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
Teddy AwardTeddy AwardThe Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
winner for Best Feature Film (1994) - Deauville Film Festival Audience Award winner and Critics Award nomination for Rose Troche (1994)
- GLAAD Media AwardsGLAAD Media AwardsThe GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...
winner for Best Feature (1994) - Gotham AwardsGotham AwardsThe Gotham Awards is an annual ceremony of awards presented to the makers of independent films which takes place in New York City...
Open Palm Award for Rose Troche (1994) - Independent Spirit AwardsIndependent Spirit AwardsThe Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
nomination for Best Supporting Female for V. S. Brodie (1995) - Political Film Society Award for Human RightsPolitical Film Society Award for Human RightsThe Political Film Society Award for human rights is given out each year to a film that deals with struggle for human rights in both fictional and non-fictional stories. This award has been handed out by the Society since 1987...
nomination (1995) - Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
Grand Jury Prize nomination (1994)