IMDb RATING
7.5/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 1 nomination
Bruce Nugent
- Self - Artist and Writer
- (as Richard Bruce Nugent)
Rikki Streicher
- Self - Bar Owner
- (as Ricky Streiker)
Evelyn Hooker
- Self
- (as Dr. Evelyn Hooker)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWas selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, who deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 2019.
- Crazy creditsUnless otherwise stated, the people who appear in this film should not be presumed to be homosexual... or heterosexual.
- ConnectionsEdited from Different from the Others (1919)
Featured review
Landmark documentary
A truly landmark documentary about the experience of being gay in America over the course of the 20th century, at least up until the 1969 Stonewall riot. Through the use of a wide variety of archival footage and lots of interviews with people who lived through the times and helped bring about change, it gives the context for bigger historical moments (like the Kinsey report, the McCarthy driven purges in government, and the trial over Ginsberg's Howl), as well as profoundly personal moments (like being a gay soldier in WW2, the WAC bravely standing up to Eisenhower, and the influence of Ann Bannon's books, or countless others). It was heartbreaking to hear the stories of the repercussions of being gay in some of these years, e.g. being committed to an asylum, losing one's job, or being publically outed and branded a pervert.
As one of the people interviewed points out, it's hard to imagine all of this happening - and that was in 1984, so it's even harder to fathom these things 36 years later. (Or is really hard to fathom with homophobic incidents still regularly popping up in the news? I don't know.) The film feels a bit frayed and it isn't perfect - but considering the enormous step forward even making it represented, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It's a snapshot in time and since then there has been further progress, including a greater appreciation for the full LGBTQ community and MUCH greater acceptance in mainstream culture - as well as backlash and serious struggles along the way (I would love to see an updated version of this film!).
Ironically, the documentary was made right as the AIDS crisis was taking off, to which the Reagan administration's depraved indifference would certainly count as a struggle (and we see Reagan lamely commenting that he believes being gay is a psychological disorder). If anything, I wish the film had pointed out more of the problems which still remained to the community; it has the air of finality, as if Stonewall happened and then "we made it." Then again, its focus is history, as its title suggests. Anyway, this is a good documentary, and it would be good as an educational film.
As one of the people interviewed points out, it's hard to imagine all of this happening - and that was in 1984, so it's even harder to fathom these things 36 years later. (Or is really hard to fathom with homophobic incidents still regularly popping up in the news? I don't know.) The film feels a bit frayed and it isn't perfect - but considering the enormous step forward even making it represented, I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It's a snapshot in time and since then there has been further progress, including a greater appreciation for the full LGBTQ community and MUCH greater acceptance in mainstream culture - as well as backlash and serious struggles along the way (I would love to see an updated version of this film!).
Ironically, the documentary was made right as the AIDS crisis was taking off, to which the Reagan administration's depraved indifference would certainly count as a struggle (and we see Reagan lamely commenting that he believes being gay is a psychological disorder). If anything, I wish the film had pointed out more of the problems which still remained to the community; it has the air of finality, as if Stonewall happened and then "we made it." Then again, its focus is history, as its title suggests. Anyway, this is a good documentary, and it would be good as an educational film.
helpful•30
- gbill-74877
- Dec 9, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- 石牆之前
- Filming locations
- Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(Many exterior shots, including of the outside of gay bars and the Stonewall Inn.)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $18,724
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,588
- Jun 23, 2019
- Gross worldwide
- $18,724
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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