'Girls Can Kiss Now' author, NJ native Jill Gutowitz goes to the movies with 'The Ladies'
Jill Gutowitz knew what she wanted out of her debut film: the exact sort of movie she always wanted to see.
Gutowitz, who grew up in Mountain Lakes in Morris County, is now an essayist based in Los Angeles. Her debut book, "Girls Can Kiss Now," was released in March. It's a collection of pop culture ruminations exploring, as publisher Simon and Schuster put it, "the mainstreaming of lesbian culture."
With the new short film "The Ladies," which she wrote and directed, Gutowitz is pivoting from cultural commentator to cinematic storyteller.
“I’ve always wanted to make something that was just kind of exactly what I love out of movies and that’s kind of like my favorite movies," she said. "I like movies that are really funny, but also can break your heart and are a little bit melancholy.”
"The Ladies" is set to screen as part of the Outfest LGBTQ+ film festival on Saturday, July 23, in Los Angeles, and will be available to stream via Eventive starting 11 a.m. Sunday, June 24.
A delightfully charming piece of business, "The Ladies" is the brief story of Emma, a 20something played by Alexis G. Zall, working to keep her affair with her grandmother's best friend Blanche (Lisa Ann Walter) a secret.
With just four characters, one main location and nine minutes of running time, "The Ladies" is fast, funny and emotionally rich, drawing in part from Gutowitz's time living with her grandmother in a Florida senior community following the 2016 death of her grandfather.
Citing the work of "The Kids Are All Right" writer/director Lisa Cholodenko as an inspiration, Gutowitz said "The Ladies" combines the same elements that she's made a career of discussing in her editorial writing.
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“Everything I’ve written in the past shares humor and heart," she said. "And so I think ‘The Ladies’ is kind of a funny but also emotional and horny short film, which is all of the things that I think I have been writing about.”
"The Ladies" is a work that's remarkable in its modesty. Whereas so many films depicting LGBTQ life embrace the grand and the tragic - terrific movies such as "Brokeback Mountain," "Moonlight" and "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" come to mind - Gutowitz's debut is nakedly silly and highly emotional, with its own approach to classic romantic comedy mix-ups and hijinks.
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“There’s ... a trend that queer movies have to kind of teach a lesson about why queer people are people or something," Gutowitz said. "And ... as a person living their life as a lesbian, that’s not the kind of stuff that I’m thinking about and talking about all day every day. I’m thinking about my own life and dating and love and my job, and I think that’s (true for) most queer people. That’s the kinds of stories I want to tell from a filmmaking perspective, ones that are the kind of dramedies that I loved growing up.”
Alex Biese has been writing about art, entertainment, culture and news on a local and national level for more than 15 years.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Girls Can Kiss Now author Jill Gutowitz goes to movies with The Ladies
