Is 1979’s sun-soaked ‘Breaking Away’ a forgotten homoerotic classic?

Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, with the 2024 Tour de France in full swing, we’re revisiting 1979’s Breaking Away, an otherwise straight, coming-of-age sports dramedy that might hold some appeal for queer audiences.

There’s a handful of characteristics that would undoubtedly qualify a film as part of the queer canon: those that revolve around LGBTQ+ characters and specific issues or themes that speak to us directly, or perhaps films made by a majority of queer creatives behind the scenes.

Or, sometimes, they’re films that we have a multigenerational cultural connection to, thanks either to the film’s star, or how we can see ourselves reflected in the story—even if it doesn’t necessarily revolve around us.

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However, there’s another category of films that haven’t been considered queer canon—or associated with our community whatsoever—but perhaps should be. These are films that might not appear to be in conversation with gay audiences at all, though when you look under the surface, actually have something buried deep.

Sometimes it’s in a small, oft-forgotten sports dramedy from the 1970s about a group of young men trying to find a better life for themselves that you can discover the most unexpected nuggets of queer sensibility.

The Set-Up

This week, with the Tour de France in full force and the Olympics just around the corner, we’re diving into the 1979 cycling film Breaking Away, written and directed by Peter Yates.

The film revolves around four working-class, freshly graduated young men: Dave, Mike, Cyril, and Moocher (played by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, and Jackie Earle Halay, respectively). Now past eighteen years old and out of high school, their future seems uncertain and limited in the small town of Bloomington, Indiana, particularly as they find themselves constantly under the shadow of the more affluent college students of the nearby Bloomington University. 

Dennis Christopher’s Dave is obsessed both with competitive cycling and with Italian culture, so when a cycling team comes into town for an exhibit race, his friends persuade him to join the Little 500, an annual track race held by the university. This inspires a competitive spirit in all of them that, despite testing their friendship and family relationships, shows them (as every good sports movie should) that there is indeed more to aspire to than whatever life has handed them.

Bike Dreams

At first glance, the movie is an incredibly charming, though tame and straightforward sports drama about young guys learning to find motivation and look beyond the limits of their small town through cycling. The movie was a decent box office success, and was received with universal critical acclaim. It won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (on top of receiving four other nominations, including Best Picture) and has constantly landed in rankings and lists of the best sport movies since its release. It is fun, breezy and surprisingly tender.

It’s not a queer movie by any means (not even with its weird fascination with Italian culture—though more on that below). But Breaking Away‘s core thematic statement feels very resonant to our community; it’s a movie about a group of young men trying desperately to live beyond the means of the world they were born into. Young men who are able to identify the boundaries of small town life, and want more for themselves. Young men that dream to one day get out because that’s the only way they will become a better version of themselves.

Now tell us that feeling doesn’t sound strangely familiar….

Although the fate of these boys is left open ended by the end of the film—and it is quite possible that they’ll all carve out happy futures for themself (as straight men, it’s actually quite likely that’ll be the case)—the feeling that there’s something larger than yourself out there, and the inexplicable impetus to go look for it, is an intrinsically queer sentiment.

Viva Italia!

Similarly, Dave—who Breaking Away spends most time with, and who most closely resembles a protagonist—has fixated himself on Italian culture. He seems to think that it’s something that will make him not only stand out, but will get him out of his hometown. He speaks with Italian lingo, refers to his parents as Mamma and Pappa, and even shaves his legs.

His friends and family thought it was cute at first, but now find it exasperating. And although it’s mostly used as a recurring comedic bit, it underlines the feeling that you are not allowed to be someone different in this town, and that anything that looks or sounds remotely out of place will be met with rejection.

The Boys Of Summer

And, well, there’s also the swimming. Less queer in terms of theme and more in terms of what will catch the attention of the gay male gaze, these boys spend a lot of time shirtless, swimming, and suntanning on big rock formations.

It’s not hard to see why the actors all were the prime heartthrobs of their time. Quaid, in particular, sports abs and a tiny waist, not unlike the many that one can find in a dedicated Instagram grid these days.

Male friendship does not necessarily have to be inherently homoerotic, and there really isn’t anything underneath the surface between this core group of friends… but they do all look good in a swimsuit. 

Going For The Gold

Breaking Away is by no means a forgotten masterwork of queer sensibility. It’s a fine time of a movie; the kind of heart-soaring, character-driven light drama that is too rare to see these days.

But there are elements that absolutely reflect and appeal to the queer eye. Which says less about the intention of this particular movie, and more about how universal some of our experiences tend to be. Because sometimes even a young, good-looking Midwestern straight athlete feels out of place.

Breaking Away is available for digital rental/purchase via Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

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