Bear (10 minutes, 35 seconds) was Steve McQueen's first major film. Although not an overtly political work, for many viewers it raises sensitive issues about race, homoeroticism and violence. It depicts two naked men – one of whom is the artist – tussling and teasing one another in an encounter which shifts between tenderness and aggression. The film is silent but a series of stares, glances and winks between the protagonists creates an optical language of flirtation and threat.
Direction
McQueen's static camera turns bodies into landscapes of threat and desire.
Cinematography
Black-and-white film stock makes skin glow like marble under pressure.
Director
Steve McQueen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot while McQueen was still at Goldsmiths, this predates his Turner Prize win by six years and established the visual vocabulary he'd deploy in Hunger and 12 Years a Slave.
The title references both the animal and 1980s gay slang for large, hairy men—McQueen refuses to clarify which, or if the distinction matters.
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