"Winter Kept Us Warm": The Chill of Unspoken Desire

A remake could pull its characters out of the closet and into today’s identity politics.

  • Country: Canada

  • Genre: Drama

  • Director: David Secter

  • Cast: John Labow, Henry Tarvainen

JOHN LABOW AND HENRY TARVAINEN IN WINTER KEPT US WARM (1965), PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID SECTER PRODUCTIONS.

Clinical Overview

Peter, a Toronto college freshman, keeps to himself, reading T.S. Eliot in the library. He’s taken under the wing of an older, more outgoing student, Doug, who is bewildered by his increasing fixation on the quiet young man.

Diagnosis

A student film and period piece, it’s a product of its time—even the cast didn’t know they were making a gay film.

Prescription

In the remake, both men are out. But Peter is proudly gender non-conforming. For him being gay is also a political identity. The jock-like Doug must confront not only his attraction but his internalized homophobia about what’s “too gay.”