History Film / Sappho

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Sappho and Phil have a passionate, loving sex life showing they're HappilyMarried at the beginning. Then once she meets Helene and they fall for each other, Sappho has passionate sex with her too. Phil follows suit, even managing to have it [[WallBangHer against a tree]] with Helene with mutual enjoyment.

* LipstickLesbian: More lipstick bisexuals as they [[LoveTriangle share a man]], but Sappho and Helene are both very feminine despite their slightly androgynous flapper looks along with being involved together. Sappho always acts quite demure and even girlish, Helene is more elegant, with reserve befitting of a ProperLady (she's an emigrant Russian aristocrat).

* MsFanservice: Avalon Barrie and Lyudmila Shiryaeva are both topless plus briefly entirely naked on the beach or while modeling for art as their characters, in sex scenes or otherwise.

* QueerRomance: Sappho realizing her attraction to women, and subsequent relationship with Helene, makes up the core of the film.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Phil is more tolerant than most 1920s people would be of his wife cross-dressing and having sex with a woman. He still clearly isn't happy though (not just of her cheating, but acting too "masculine" in his view). Other people also disapprove when Sappho is publicly dressed as a man, though only mildly. Phil also very much dislikes her having a tattoo, saying only sailors and whores get them.

* NoBisexuals: Sappho describes herself as a lesbian upon realizing her attraction toward Helene, though she's also very clearly attracted to men. Here it's pretty justified as the term "bisexual" wasn't used much when the film is set (well, in a reference to sexuality anyway), and "lesbian" gets said to simply mean any woman into other women.

* TwentiesBobHaircut: Sappho and Helene sport bobs as a sign the film is set in 1926. Sappho got more of an inverted bob, while Helene has the shingle. For Sappho, it also signifies realization of her bisexuality, as she has an affair with Helene in the wake of getting this.

* TwentiesBobHaircut: Sappho and Helene sport bobs as a sign the film is set in 1926. Sappho got more of an inverted bob, while Helene has the shingle. For Sappho, it also signifies realization of her bisexuality, as she has an affair with Helene in the wake of getting this.

* LoveTriangle: Sappho and Phil are a happy married couple. However then Sappho is smitten by Helene, and begins a relationship with her. She openly encourages Phil to be involved with Helene as well, and they have sex. In the end, Phil and Helene get together after [[spoiler:Sappho kills herself]].

* ComingOutStory: Sappho tells Phil she likes women too and begins an affair with Helene. Near the end she's also embraced the term "lesbian" (though she seems to be bisexual-they didn't have the name when the film is set).

* NoBisexuals: Sappho describes herself as a lesbian upon realizing her attraction toward Helene, though she's also very clearly attracted to men. Here it's pretty justified as the term "bisexual" didn't even exist when the film is set (well, in reference to sexuality anyway), and "lesbian" gets used to simply mean any woman into other women.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Sappho calls herself a boy in some instances and often dresses as a man. It's ambiguous then if she identifies as male, or simply means she's taken a "man's role" by having sex with another woman, acting more boldly, etc. She probably has no concept of being a transgender man (or similarly bigender, genderfluid, etc.) because it's still the 1920s, making it even less clear.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: Sappho calls herself a boy in some instances and often dresses as a man. It's ambiguous if she identifies as male, or simply means she's taken a "man's role" by having sex with another women, acting more boldly etc. She probably has no concept of being transgender (or similarly bigender, genderfluid etc.) because it's still the 1920s, making it even less clear.

* YourCheatingHeart: Sappho starts a relationship with Helene in Greece on vacation with her husband. She's quite open about it and he doesn't stop them, but he's clearly not really happy about this either. As it's a same-sex affair, he seems not to care as much then.

* ComingOutStory: Sappho tells Phil she likes women too and began an affair with Helene. Toward the end she's also embraced the term "lesbian" (though she seems to be bisexual-they didn't have the name when the film is set).

* BoyishShortHair: Sappho has hers cut into a bob as part of her cross-dressing. This was a [[TwentiesBobHaircut common style]] among many women then however, so this doesn't stand out that much.

* BoyishShortHair: Sappho has hers cut into a bob as part of her crossdressing. This was a [[TwentiesBobHaircut common style]] among many women then however, so this doesn't stand out that much.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Phil is more tolerant than most 1920s people would be of his wife crossdressing and having sex with a woman. He still clearly isn't happy though (not just of her cheating, but acting too "masculine" in his view). Other people also disapprove when Sappho is publicly dressed as a man, though only mildly. Phil also very much dislikes her having a tattoo, saying only sailors and whores get them.

* MsFanservice: Avalon Barrie and Lyudmila Shiryaeva are both topless plus briefly entirely naked on the beach as their characters, in sex scenes or otherwise.

* TwentiesBobHaircut: Sappho and Helene sport these as a sign the film is set in 1926, with Sappho's being closer to a modern hairstyle of the two (although both are period-appropriate).

* BoyishShortHair: Sappho has hers cut into a bob as part of her crossdressing. It isn't too different from the [[TwentiesBobHaircut common style]] among many women then however, so this doesn't stand out that much.

%% * TwentiesBobHaircut: Sappho and Helene sport these, with Sappho's being closer to a modern hairstyle.

* TwentiesBobHaircut: Sappho and Helene sport these, with Sappho's being closer to a modern hairstyle.

''Sappho'' is a 2008 American film, also known as ''Summer Lover''. Set in 1926 Greece, it features an American couple named [[CharacterTitle Sappho]] and Phil on vacation. They're very happy together, but Sappho falls for a Russian woman she meets, and things quickly become complicated.

* CharacterTitle: Sappho is the main character. However, it also references the same-sex love between women which the film heavily features too.
* ClosetKey: Before meeting Helene Sappho doesn't seem to have ever been attracted by women, nor even know about {{UsefulNotes/Sapphism}} nor what her own name signified.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Near the beginning, Sappho is told about the rock where her namesake allegedly jumped to her death over a lost love. [[spoiler:She also kills herself as Helene rejects her.]]

* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Sappho and Helene make love on the beach. Helene and Phil then have sex in the forest later.
* MeaningfulName: Sappho has no idea of the import her name has until Helene tells her about the historical {{Creator/Sappho}} of Lesbos, whose name is the orig in for lesbianism. The pair become lovers after this.
* MsFanservice: Avalon Barrie and Lyudmila Shiryaeva both are both topless plus briefly entirely naked on the beach, in sex scenes or otherwise.
* NoBisexuals: Sappho describes herself as a lesbian upon realizing her attraction toward Helene, though she's also very clearly attracted to men. Here it's pretty justified as the term "bisexual" didn't even exist when the film is set, and "lesbian" was used to simply mean any woman into other women.

* {{Polyamory}}: Sappho clearly wants Phil and Helene to both be in a relationship with her. She encourages them to get involved. However, while they have sex, both reject this in the end.

* TheirFirstTime: Sappho has never been with a woman before Helene. The latter conversely says she'd never been with a man before having sex with Phil.
* TheTwenties: The film is set in 1926, with a reference to Prohibition plus the women having period-appropriate styles.

* YourCheatingHeart: Sappho starts a relationship with Helena in Greece on vacation with her husband. She's quite open about it and he doesn't stop them, but he's clearly not really happy about this either. As it's a same-sex affair, he seems not to care as much then.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: Sappho dresses as a man in Greece multiple times, and is presented positively. Characters who know about this disapprove or react with mixed feelings however.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity:

* MeaningfulName: Sappho has no idea of the import her name has until Helene tells her about the historical {{UsefulNotes/Sappho}}, which is the origin for female same-gender attraction or love. The pair become lovers after this.

* YourCheatingHeart: Sappho starts a relationship with Helena in Greece on vacation with her husband. She's quite open about it and he doesn't stop them, but he's clearly not really happy about this either. As it's a same-sex affair, he seems not to care as much then.