Claire (2001 film)
A silent-era homage to a moon princess found in corn.
Claire is a 2001 film directed by Milford Thomas. The story is loosely based on the Japanese fairy tale Kaguyahime, but Thomas’ version relocates the tale to a farm in the rural 1920s South, where an elderly male couple finds a moon princess in an ear of corn. The film is an homage to early cinema, using silent-era techniques such as canvas backgrounds, semi-hidden wires, multiple exposures, and a hand-cranked 35mm camera.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Milford Thomas
- Starring
- Toniet Gallego / Mish P. DeLight / James Ferguson / Pat Bell / Katherine Moore / Anna May Hirsch / Allen Jeffrey Rein
- Cinematography
- Jonathan Mellinger
- Editing
- Anne Richardson
- Released
- 2001 · 11
- Runtime
- 57 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- No dialogue
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film opens with a nightmare: a young girl's birthday party is interrupted by Josh losing custody of her. He wakes and squeezes the hand of his husband Walt for comfort. Early on, a theme of transcendence of love beyond social norms is identified. The audience is shown the pair's daily routine, and one night after they lie down, Claire appears as a tiny thing inside an iridescent ear of corn. As she grows into a young woman, she enchants onlookers with her beauty and readings of fantastic poetry in various languages. Richard is particularly entranced and gives her his copy of Shelley's work. Claire discovers her miraculous healing powers after Richard dives from a cliff to win her affection.
Reader's Guide
Claire (2001) is significant as a work that celebrates nontraditional family structures—two men lovingly raising a child of the Moon—while also addressing the grief of losing a loved one. Its deliberate use of silent-era filmmaking techniques, including a hand-cranked 35mm camera and old-fashioned special effects, marks it as an homage to early cinema. The film won Best First Feature (Special Mention) at the San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in 2002, and its soundtrack was performed live by Orchestra De Lune at that festival. The film's legacy lies in its blending of a classic fairy tale with a queer narrative set in a historical American context, using the visual language of the silent era.
Did You Know?
- The film was shot with a hand-cranked 35mm camera.
- Claire is found inside an iridescent ear of corn.
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