Five Favorite Gay film portrayals

• Harvey Milk played by Sean Penn in Milk

Sean Penn was rightly awarded an oscar for his performance in 2008's Van Sant directed Milk, and the film is a tremendous achievement. Penn plays Harvey Milk, known as the first gay councilman elected in the United States.Penn's performance is special, not only does he successfully incarnate the politician visually, but he also manages to successfully portray the hope that Milk gave the gay youth of the world, the way he was able to inspire change and the way he allowed people to come out. The portrayal is lving, nuanced and slightly satirical without being caricatured.

• Jack Twist played by Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is a hugely important gay film, and the portrayals within it are superb, Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist, a rancher and rodeo cowboy from Texas who goes to Wyoming to ranch sheeep on brokeback mountain. He soon falls in love with Ennis Del Mar, an engaged shepherd who falls equally in love with Jack. Jack Twist is a complex character, and his sexuality, while explored, is never really explicitly stated. Gyllenhaal's performance is nuanced and complicated, his overwhelming love for and chemistry with Ennis is palpable, and his performance is superb.

• Robert Frobisher played by Ben Whishaw in Cloud Atlas

Robert Frobisher is a composer and amanuensis working for a blind and ailing composer in Scotland, whilst composing a piece of his own, The Cloud Atlas Sextet, Frobisher is a remarkable character, having left his lover behind in Cambridge, their love affair is narrated in their correspondence by post. This character is typical of a new queer character, in that although he is gay, this not defined by his sexuality in any way, and this is merely a facet of his characterization.

• Andrew Beckett played by Tom Hanks in Philadelphia

One of the first films to deal with the AIDS epidemic, Hanks plays a lawyer who is fired from his job when it is revealde that he has HIV. The film then depicts Becketts courtroom battle with his employers to keep his job and be compensated, while dying of AIDS. Becketts story is based upon a true life case, and the film is a tremendous achievement. Hanks again goes through a huge transformation throughout the film, going from a healthy man, to a waif riddled with Kaposi sarcoma lesions and weak from his disease. This transformation is enough to warrant a place on this lift alone, and Hanks performance is heartbreaking.

• George Falconer played by Colin Firth in A Single Man

A Single Man deals with a widowed english professor, living in Los Angeles, and depressed from the death of his partner. The film recounts his last day, when he decides to kill himself, and goes through the motions of wrapping up his life. Firth was rightly nominated for an oscar for his performance, and his portrayal of George is an impressive undertaking. Firth plays George with a nuance and subtlety which is impressive, and he imbues the character with a sensitivity and a heartbreak which is at times breathtaking.