Dalbert Pringle
Favourite movie-clip quote from Cary Grant - ".... Because I just went gay all of a sudden!" Whether you happen to be gay, lesbian, straight, or whoever - I certainly think that this documentary (which takes a close-up look at the role of the homosexual character in mainstream cinema) is sure to be of some relevant interest and appeal to a fair-sized audience.Through interviews with Hollywood celebrities, and gay screenwriters, filmmakers, and historians - As well as a non-stop procession of choice film-clips, spanning from 1895-1995 - The Celluloid Closet thoroughly covers the first 100 years of the "gay/lesbian" character in cinema, where, according to some of the interviewees here - "Negative representation was better than nothing." If you ask me - I think that one of the best moments in "The Celluloid Closet" was in a scene taken from 1959's "Pillow Talk" (a very silly Rom-Com) where actor Rock Hudson (a "real-life" gay man) plays a straight man impersonating a gay man. This charade was all done, of course, in order to get a woman into bed.*Note* - Keep in mind that "The Celluloid Closet" is now 20 years old.
guigy93
The Celluloid Closet is a wonderful documentary that gives an overview of homosexuality in films throughout the decades. This film manages to be both a joy to watch, while giving rare insights into classic films through actors and screenwriters such as Tony Curtis, Gore Vidal, Jay Presson Allen, and Whoopi Goldberg. Celluloid Closet manages to give a frank view of how homosexuals were portrayed without condemning or belittling any group of people. There was startling revelations of how far homosexuality had to come; from being portrayed as "sissies", villains, completely ignored, something to be ashamed of, or something to be condemned. The discussion of how homosexuals were made into villains was particularly shocking and upsetting. In addition, the Hays Codes surprises a modern film goer with the strict regulations. The documentary brings to light how movie producers managed to get the point across while being subtle enough to avoid being cut. Perhaps most importantly, the Celluloid Closet captures how gay people felt ostracized and ashamed while watching films growing up. Overall, this film was a joy to watch, funny, at times heartbreaking, and a must see for anyone interested in queer cinema, one could only wish for a continuation into today's films.
taylorlandis
"The Celluloid Closet" is a very informative, interesting documentary that evaluates the way Hollywood has presented homosexual relationships beginning in the 1930s. From the very beginning when homosexual relationships began to appear in films, Hollywood has always had an influence on the audience of what to think about gays, as well as how gays should feel about themselves. In early appearances, the homosexual hints in films was not discussed publicly after being viewed, it was sort of ignored and thought of as comedy. After homosexual scenes became more and more prevalent and common, the Catholic and Protestant churches grew very angry, starting boycotts of any film that hinted even the smallest bit of homosexuality. Film writers and directors began finding other ways to project homosexuals, by making it harder to catch the gay hints or even making the homosexual character a "villain" in a sense. This homosexual "villain" character was very common in films until the British film "Victim." This particular film was the first to actually use the word "homosexual," therefore beginning another era of homosexuality in films. Although the "homosexual" word was not used openly in films, gays seemed to perceived as having a "mental illness" now. In addition, audiences were applauding villains, killers, or the killed if they were homosexual. They seemed to enjoy the homosexual characters' pain while watching these films. Overall, "The Celluloid Closet" takes its audience on the journey through the evolution of homosexuality in Hollywood films. Clearly this film is wonderful in itself as it explores other very famous films throughout history, discussing how homosexual scenes were presented in many of them.
MartinHafer
This was a very good documentary about the treatment of homosexuals in films. It presents a somewhat thorough journey from showing homosexuality in a very negative light (such as psychos) to the more modern sympathetic and normalization of gay life in films.However, from a historical viewpoint, it wasn't particularly complete or thorough, as in the years before the newly enforced Production Code (1934), there were quite a few films about gays. While some were the mincing stereotypical images, many were not and silent and international films had quite a few gay or heavily implied characters--all of which was ignored in this documentary. If you are looking for this, like I am, then this film ain't it.My final complaint is something you can't blame on this documentary. Because the film was made in 1995, many of the complaints about not having enough gay images in film seems rather out of date, as gay characters abound not only in film but seem to abound on television. The complaint I have is that although the many gays about on television because they are incredibly clichéd--usually being noble (to the point of nausea in some instances) or campy and clever (like the "Queer Eye" folks). While not politically correct, showing gays who are jerks, country folk (NOT like you'd see in DELIVERANCE), average folks, Mexicans, baseball players, pizza delivery guys or even idiots would be a nice change of pace--at least this would make them more three- dimensional.
AD
