Stonewall (2015)

A young man's political awakening and coming of age during the days and weeks leading up to the Stonewall Riots.

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writer:

Jon Robin Baitz

Stars:

Jeremy Irvine, Jonny Beauchamp, Joey King

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Irvine	...	Danny Winters
Jonny Beauchamp	...	Ray / Ramona
Joey King	...	Phoebe
Caleb Landry Jones	...	Orphan Annie
Matt Craven	...	Deputy Seymour Pine
David Cubitt	...	Coach Winters
Vlad Alexis	...	Cong (as Vladimir Alexis)
Ben Sullivan	...	Quiet Paul
Andrea Frankle	...	Joyce Winters
Patrick Garrow	...	Bob Kohler
Alexandre Nachi	...	Lee
Karl Glusman	...	Joe Altman
Otoja Abit	...	Marsha P. Johnson
Jonathan Rhys Meyers	...	Trevor
Ron Perlman	...	Ed Murphy

Storyline

The plot revolves around the 1969 Stonewall Riots, the violent clash that kicked off the gay rights movement in New York City. The drama centers on Danny Winters, who flees to New York, leaving behind his sister. He finds his way to the Stonewall Inn, where he meets Trevor before catching the eye of Ed Murphy, manager of the Stonewall. He colludes with corrupt police and exploits homeless youth.

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Plot Keywords:

homosexuality | 1960s | year 1969 | homophobia | gay culture | 

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Taglines:

For every movement and every injustice, there is a moment that changes history.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, language throughout, some violence and drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roland Emmerich's first anamorphic feature since Stargate (1994), and his first to use Hawk anamorphic lenses.

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Goofs

During the first scene at the bar, a disco song comes on the jukebox, but disco didn't arrive until 73 or 74. Also, some of the clothes, especially the polyester pants that Trevor wears are more 70's than late 60's. Besides the music errors stated above, the film is rife with goofs.

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Quotes

Bob Kohler: Every guy has to get over falling in love with someone who can't love him back.

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Connections

Referenced in Disclosure (2020)

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Soundtracks

Cast The First Stone
Written by Gerald Hugh Ramsey
Performed by Jay Ramsey
Courtesy of Fervor Records

User Reviews

It's not what people want it to be.

Roland Emmerich's biggest mistake was calling the movie "Stonewall" and marketing it as if it were the actual story of the rebellion. It gave people the wrong expectation. It's not a movie about Stonewall. It's a movie about a Midwestern gay man whose story takes place on Christopher street at the time of the riots. It's also in part the story of the first person he meets in New York, played by Jonny Beauchamp, who steals the movie. It's basically a very oddball romance and coming-out story. People wanted an accurate historical epic about the importance of the riots, and the movie isn't that and was never meant to be.

For what it really is, it's a very good movie. Like most "historical" movies there are inaccuracies. The worst distortion is giving Danny the "first brick." That's upset a lot of people, but in the dramatic structure of the movie it's as much about Danny's becoming himself--a gay man throwing away his shame--as it is about the situation he finds himself in. The police are depicted as "bad" in the black-and-white morality of an old-fashioned hero-versus-villain Saturday morning serial. But beyond those inaccuracies and the impossibility of recreating Christopher Street as it was (which seems to be especially upsetting to some New York viewers), the movie is as faithful to its surrounding event as any Shakespeare history play to its, including sympathetic depictions of a very diverse neighborhood of LGBT types.

As a long-time gay activist, I liked the movie a great deal. It feels real as I remember things to have been 46 years ago. I felt a genuine emotional rush during and after the riot. The movie ends with typical historical clean-ups, telling us what became of the real people, like Marsha P Johnson and others who appear in the movie, and mentioning the additional nights of rioting and how they went on to be regarded in LGBT history.

For me the saddest thing about this film is the divisions it's exposed among various components of the LGBT community. This history belongs to all of us, black, brown, white, gay, lesbian, transgender, drag queen, troll, twink, and so on; if we can't honor it in all of our variations, no one else will either. Go to see it as a good story well told, not as a factual documentary. I write this knowing some of you won't be able to, some of you won't want to, and some of you won't believe me. I wish there were something I could do about that, but there isn't.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stonewall

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$112,834, 27 September 2015

Gross USA:

$187,674

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$292,669

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centropolis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (some sequences)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1