The Celluloid Closet - Trapped in the dream factory
Movie | |
---|---|
German title | The Celluloid Closet - Trapped in the dream factory |
Original title | The Celluloid Closet |
Country of production | United States |
original language | English |
Publishing year | 1995 |
length | 107 minutes |
Rod | |
Director |
Rob Epstein Jeffrey Friedman |
script |
Vito Russo Rob Epstein Jeffrey Friedman Sharon Wood Armistead Maupin |
production | Rob Epstein Jeffrey Friedman Howard Rosenman |
music | Carter Burwell |
camera | Nancy Schreiber |
cut | Jeffrey Friedman Arnold Glassman |
occupation | |
Lily Tomlin (narrator) |
The Celluloid Closet is a documentary by directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman from 1995 about films with homosexual content or homosexual references. It is based on the film history book The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo , published in 1981 .
content
The documentary covers a wide arc spanning 100 years of film history and various personalities with connections to the Hollywood industry are asked to comment on various film clips and tell of their personal experiences in dealing with LGBT characters. The theme extends from queens (Engl. Sissy ) about censorship based on the Hays code , encrypted gay characters and stereotypes to progress in the early 1990s - for example, by the New Queer Cinema and the picking up of the theme in blockbusters like Philadelphia .
Meaning of Vito Russo
The film is based on the published in 1981 and 1987, newly launched general book The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo , who examined historical, such as movies - especially in Hollywood - gays , lesbians , bisexuals and transgender represent -Characters. Russo was one of the first to convince both homosexuals and heterosexuals , with his 1981 book The Celluloid Closet , to explore the role popular culture plays in shaping our attitudes about sexual orientation and gender identity . As a young homosexual and film historian in the 1970s, Russo was disappointed that there were hardly any positive or clearly visible depictions of homosexuality in films - also since these were only allowed to be shown in encrypted form in the cinema until the 1960s due to censorship. He therefore wanted to tear LGTB figures out of the shadows and subext and thus create a more positive identification of homosexual figures. Russo's work started a genre of research that examines the representation of LGBT people in films , television shows , comics , videos and computer games .
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman had Russo in their 1989 published documentary Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt , of the Oscar , interviewed won. Russo's partner had already died of AIDS at this point and he himself had already fallen ill. It was Vito Russo's wish that his book should be made into a film documentary, but was unable to do so with Epstein and Friedman before his death from AIDS in November 1990. Some critics noted that the film was less political than the book and ended on a more positive note. Russo, however, wanted the documentation to be entertaining and also reflect the positive changes that were emerging for the 1990s.
Well-known lesbian actress Lily Tomlin , who was close friends with Russo and also acts as the film's narrator, started a campaign to fund the film. Among other things, she organized a charity show in which Robin Williams also performed and Hugh Hefner donated a large amount. In addition to the American television broadcaster HBO , ZDF and Arte also co-financed parts of the film budget amounting to 1.4 million US dollars, which, among other things, had to be used for the approval of the rights to the film clips.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has given the Vito Russo Award since 2003 to openly gay and lesbian people within the Hollywood industry who represent a step forward in the fight against homophobia .
Interview partner
Some very well-known interlocutors could be found for the documentation. But there were also rejections, including from Charlton Heston , who forbade showing the film Michelangelo - Inferno and Ecstasy because the painter he played was heterosexual. Michael Ontkean did not want to be interviewed and forbade the showing of scenes with him in the film Making Love (1982), but was unsuccessful.
- Lily Tomlin
- Tony Curtis
- Susie Bright
- Arthur Laurents
- Armistead Maupin
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Jan Oxenberg
- Harvey Fierstein
- Quentin Crisp
- Richard Dyer
- Jay Presson Allen
- Gore Vidal
- Farley Granger
- Paul Rudnick
- Shirley MacLaine
- Barry Sandler
- Mart Crowley
- Antonio Fargas
- Tom Hanks
- Ron Nyswaner
- Daniel Melnick
- Harry Hamlin
- John Schlesinger
- Susan Sarandon
Discussed films
- 1895 - Dickson Experimental Sound Film
- 1912 - Algie, the Miner
- 1914 - A Florida Enchantment
- 1916 - Behind the Screen
- 1922 - Women on the wrong track (de), Der Staatsanwalt (at) (Manslaughter)
- 1923 - The Soilers
- 1927 - Wanderer of the West
- 1927 - Wings , aviator film against the background of the First World War, with a gay subtext
- 1929 - The Broadway Melody
- 1930 - Morocco (Morocco)
- 1932 - My first mistake (Their First Mistake)
- 1932 - Call Her Savage
- 1933 - Ladies They Talk About
- 1933 - Our Betters
- 1933 - I dance only for you (de) - Tanzende Venus (at) (Dancing Lady)
- 1933 - Myrt and Marge
- 1933 - Queen Christine (Queen Christina)
- 1934 - Wonder Bar
- 1934 - Tarzan (Tarzan and His Mate)
- 1934 - dance with me! or divorce in American (The Gay Divorcee)
- 1935 - The Bride of Frankenstein (Bride of Frankenstein)
- 1935 - I dance myself into your heart (Top Hat)
- 1936 - Dracula's daughter
- 1938 - You don't kiss leopards (Bringing Up Baby)
- 1940 - Rebecca
- 1941 - The Maltese Falcon (The Maltese Falcon)
- 1945 - The Lost Weekend (The Lost Weekend)
- 1946 - Gilda
- 1947 - Im Kreuzfeuer (de), Kreuzverhör (at) (Crossfire)
- 1948 - Cocktail for a corpse (Rope)
- 1948 - Red River , panic on the red river
- 1950 - The man of her dreams (Young Man with a Horn)
- 1950 - a Lonely Place (In a Lonely Place)
- 1950 - Women's Prison (de), Lost Women (at, de) (Caged)
- 1953 - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) , contains a scene in which a group of bodybuilders Jane Russell not look at honors
- 1953 Heavy Colts in Tender Hand (Calamity Jane) (via Calamity Jane )
- 1954 - Johnny Guitar - When women hate
- 1955 - ... because they don't know what they're doing (Rebel Without a Cause)
- 1956 - Different from the others (Tea and Sympathy)
- 1958 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) , contains suggestions that Brick ( Paul Newman ) is homosexual
- 1959 - Some Like It Hot (Some Like It Hot)
- 1959 - Pillow Talk (Pillow Talk) to his partner ( Doris Day to get) into bed, posing the male protagonist ( Rock Hudson ) as a fagot
- 1959 - Ben-Hur
- 1959 - Suddenly Last Summer (Suddenly, Last Summer)
- 1960 - Spartacus , gay subtext, but mostly cut out (shows the love of a Roman patrician for a slave ( Tony Curtis ))
- 1961 - Boys Beware educational film which warns boys about homosexuals
- 1961 - The vicious circle (Victim) , shows an explicitly homosexual male figure for the first time in British film history
- 1961 - Infam (The Children's Hour)
- 1961 - A pajama for two (Lover Come Back) , with the secondary character of an effeminate man (sissy type)
- 1961 - Vu du pont , shows two men kissing
- 1962 - On burning pavement (Walk on the Wild Side) , history of a brothel in Louisiana in the 1930s with a lesbian subtext
- 1962 - Storm over Washington (Advise & Consent)
- 1967 - The Fox , the story of a lesbian couple whose secluded life is invaded by a man
- 1968 - The Detective (The Detective) , crime drama about the investigation of the murder of a gay man
- 1968 - The Killing of Sister George (The Killing of Sister George)
- 1968 - The Sergeant , a story from the officer milieu of the Second World War with two men kissing on the mouth
- 1969 - Two bandits (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
- 1969 - The Boys in the Band (The Boys in the Band) will be the first film in the US film history, portrayed sympathetically in the homosexual men
- 1971 - Vanishing Point (Vanishing Point) , as minor characters appear two gay hitchhiker
- 1971 - Sunday, Bloody Sunday , love triangle between a homosexual man, a bisexual man and a woman
- 1972 - Cabaret , considered one of the first American films to celebrate homosexuality
- 1974 - The Last Bite the Dogs (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) , shows a man kissing another
- 1974 - The Shamus (Freebie and The Bean) , with a vicious transvestite
- 1976 - Next Stop, Greenwich Village , with a gay colored minor character
- 1976 - Car Wash , with a gay colored supporting character
- 1978 - 12 noon - Midnight Express , gay movie
- 1978 - A cage full of fools (La Cage aux Folles)
- 1979 - The Warriors (The Warriors)
- 1979 - The Cops of Dallas (North Dallas Forty)
- 1980 - L is not just love (Windows)
- 1980 - cruising
- 1980 - Fame - The road to fame
- 1980 - The School Rats of Chicago (My Bodyguard)
- 1981 - The fanatic (The Fan)
- 1981 - Two like cats and mice (Continental Divide)
- 1982 - Personal Best , lesbian film
- 1982 - Making Love
- 1982 - Victor / Victoria
- 1982 - Two crazy guys on a hot track (Partners)
- 1982 - An Officer and a Gentleman
- 1982 - Nightshift - The morgue is freaking out (Night Shift) , film with gay themes
- 1982 - only 48 hours (48 Hrs.)
- 1983 - Lianna , lesbian film
- 1983 - Desire (The Hunger) , lesbian film
- 1983 - Silkwood
- 1984 - Repo Man
- 1984 - Another Country
- 1985 - Heaven Help (Heaven Help Us)
- 1985 - Teen Wolf - A werewolf rarely comes alone , gay-themed film
- 1985 - Desert Hearts , lesbian film
- 1985 - My Beautiful Laundrette (My Beautiful Laundrette)
- 1985 - The Color Purple (The Color Purple)
- 1986 - Parting Glances (Parting Glances) , a gay movie
- 1988 - Hairspray
- 1988 - The Chocolate War
- 1988 - The Torch Song Trilogy , gay movie
- 1989 - Dream a Little Dream
- 1989 - Heathers
- 1990 - Friendship for Life (Longtime Companion)
- 1990 - Wild at Heart - The story of Sailor and Lula
- 1991 - Poison
- 1991 - The Silence of the Lambs (The Silence of the Lambs) , shows a person with female genitalia and male torso
- 1991 - Thelma & Louise , a somewhat hidden love story between two women
- 1991 - The Hours and Times
- 1991 - Edward II
- 1991 - My Private Idaho (My Own Private Idaho)
- 1991 - Green tomatoes (Fried Green Tomatoes) , film with strong concealed lesbian subtext
- 1992 - Swoon
- 1992 - Basic Instinct
- 1992 - Mo 'Money - Meh' Geld (Mo 'Money)
- 1992 - The Living End
- 1992 - Glengarry Glen Ross
- 1992 - The Crying Game
- 1993 - The Wedding Banquet (The Wedding Banquet) , openly gay comedy
- 1993 Mrs. Doubtfire - The Prickly Nanny (Mrs. Doubtfire)
- 1993 - Philadelphia
- 1994 - Priscilla - Queen of the Desert (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert)
- 1994 - Go Fish
- 1995 - Coffee, Milk and Sugar (Boys on the Side) , lesbian film
Awards
Festival / price | Award | country | year |
---|---|---|---|
Sundance Film Festival | Freedom of Expression Award Documentary: Grand Jury Prize (nom.) |
United States | 1996 |
GLAAD Media Awards | Vito Russo Film Award | United States | 1996 |
Teddy Award | Best Documentary / Essay Film (Together with I'll Be Your Mirror ) |
D. | Berlinale 1996 |
Emmy |
Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming (3 *) Outstanding Informational Special President’s Award (all nominations) |
United States | 1996 |
National Educational Media Network | Gold apple | United States | 1996 |
Peabody Awards | Peabody Award | United States | 1997 |
Independent Spirit Awards | Truer Than Fiction Award (nom.) | United States | 1997 |
criticism
“Conversations with authors and actors and excerpts from over 100 films are combined into a chronicle from 1895 to the present. Excellently chosen scenes and their ingenious compilation combine to create a differentiated, sometimes melancholy chronology, which is at the same time a lesson about the double standards of the puritanical Hollywood industry and a clever plea for more tolerance. "
DVD output
In 2001 the DVD of the documentation was released in English with an extra audio commentary by the producers, and another audio track with an interview that Russo gave in 1990. There is also a link to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and some interviews not shown in the film have been edited into a second documentary.
See also
literature
- Vito Russo: The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies (Revised Edition), HarperCollins Publishers, September 1987, ISBN 0-06-096132-5
Web links
- The Celluloid Closet in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Film review, German (Rajko Burchardt)
- Official German film website
Individual evidence
- ^ Trivia of the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ The Celluloid Closet - Trapped in the Dream Factory. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 31, 2017 .