This is the story of the film CRUISING, the real events that inspired it and the controversy that resulted in the protests before and after it was made.
First word of warning, keep the little kids away from this film. I know it's a no, duh, but odds are if you are a parent with kids, watching this with them will result in a lot of questions. Its not because it's bad, but because the film is frank in its discussions because it wasn't made for TV or cable. The frankness is one of the reasons the film is so good.
The film begins with the murder of Addison Verrill, a writer for Variety who was murdered in 1977 after visiting the Mineshaft club. Verrill was killed by a man who had appeared in the THE EXORCIST and William Friedkin had remembered working with. This got Friedkin interested in the leather culture and turned into his desire to make CRUISING.
This is a great film on many levels. Its careing portrait of what it was like to be gay in the 1970's,its killer true crime tale, it's a wonderful portrait of a film that, for better or worse, is now part of popular culture. Its a film that deftly juggles all the various balls perfectly so we never lose sight of any of them. More importantly no one just becomes a "name". We get a sense of everyone, especially Addison Verrill whose tale takes up the first third of the film.
I loved this film. As someone old enough to remember the making of the film and the protests this film filled in a lot of details I never knew, which is most things. I knew what was in the papers and I read the novel that Friedkin used as the "source" because of the controversey but I didn't know much else. Now I do.
I can't wait to see this away from the festival where I can take it in and not feel rushed.
Highly recommended
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