Explores lesbians in film, from early representations to contemporary ones, spanning 25 films over 60 years and concentrating on lesbian desire and the lesbian subtext. The text details the films' narratives in conjunction with an examination of spectating positions and new syntheses of languages. Deploying femininist film criticism and material from psychoanalysis, the book explores narrative, identifications and desire. It discusses the masculinization of desire and speculates on alternatives to the socio-sexual order. From castration and agency to the fetishization of beauty, from mothering, narcissism and Oedipus to rage and trauma, the text discusses key issues for the constitution of the subject.