The Crying Game. Jaye Davidson is so beautiful I'm dying. And he's so great in this role. Shame he didn't stick around.
(Maybe-spoilers ahead.)
Shame also - for more reasons than one - how perception and discussion of the film came to revolve around the "twist". Looking at comments online almost every single one talks about either their shock at the "reveal", or brags about how they "could see it from the beginning". Apparently this angle was pushed hard by the studio in its marketing for the US release. The movie has alredy come in for some harsh criticism over its portrayal of trans people, but I imagine this impression is worsened even more by the fact that whenever the movie comes up as a subject, it's to reference the "shock moment", or the Ace Ventura meme.
One wonders if, hadn't it been for this marketing campaign, negative judgements on this movie would be left at "kind of crappy, but those were the times", rather than in the words of one reviewer,
"It is nearly impossible to overstate the damage this film has done to trans women."
(Maybe-spoilers ended.)
On a more general level, making an entire film (or any kind of story) hinge on one or two big surprise moments is unfair to the whole thing. I care about these things less and less as the years go by (I knew all about this movie before watching it). And this tendency got us a whole bunch of shitty movie scripts in the 00s.
And, to get to the point, it's a shame because the movie stands on it's own. With all the conflicting impressions which a retrospective view affords me, I am very touched by this movie.
I also think the theme song so perfectly expresses a gentle, deep sadness that comes through everywhere in this film. Not just of heartbreak and not being able to love and be as you are, but of the hardships of life in general (especially those tied to the place and time period).