Film Studies: Semiology For Beginners

Fagburn doesn't go to the cinema - they tend to be full of people eating and talking and breathing.
So I guess I won't see Beginners til I can nick it off the internet watch it on DVD.
It does look kind of interesting - and it's "based on a true story" of director Mike Mills' 70something dad coming out.
If gay men having babies has become the most tedious trope of 2011, a straight man having a gay parent at least strives for originality.
But I digress.
I think the film poster is fascinating enough to be getting on with.
That's Christopher Plummer as the gay dad on the right.
Is the little dog meant to be a gay giveaway?
Any dog that can fit into a basket is pretty screaming in my book.
Or is it Mr Plummer's comfortable shoes?
Isn't that a Sapphic signifier?
I know! It's the 'kerchief jauntily arranged around his neck at a just-so angle.
And it's a red hanky.
I wonder what that signifies...

Update: Mike Mills interviewed on The Film Programme, BBC Radio 4, Friday 22nd - says the first thing he did to try and get Plummer into character was send him to Bloomingdales and buy a scarf... What do I win???