Narrated by Lily Tomlin (herself a lesbian), "The Celluloid Closet" looks at how gays and lesbians have been portrayed in movies over the years. Featuring a careful balance of interviews with actors and actresses, and footage from various movies, the documentary does a very good job giving the viewer an impression of how cinema wanted people to view homosexuality. Obvious representations include the "sissy gay man" and the "bitchy lesbian", but other portrayals have made them look unstable.
Particularly interesting is how, during the years of the Hays Code (part of which forbade portrayals of "sexual perversions" in movies), directors often sneaked in references to homosexuality in movies, such as "Ben-Hur". I guess that if "The Celluloid Closet" has any problem, it's that it's now eleven years old, so there have been so many other portrayals than what the documentary shows. Examples include "The Birdcage", "In & Out" and "Brokeback Mountain".
But other than that, it's a great documentary. Definitely something that everyone should see. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Fierstein and Tony Curtis work just as well in documentaries as they do in regular movies.
Speaking of Tony Curtis, when he first appeared, I thought that he was Rodney Dangerfield!
Particularly interesting is how, during the years of the Hays Code (part of which forbade portrayals of "sexual perversions" in movies), directors often sneaked in references to homosexuality in movies, such as "Ben-Hur". I guess that if "The Celluloid Closet" has any problem, it's that it's now eleven years old, so there have been so many other portrayals than what the documentary shows. Examples include "The Birdcage", "In & Out" and "Brokeback Mountain".
But other than that, it's a great documentary. Definitely something that everyone should see. Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Harvey Fierstein and Tony Curtis work just as well in documentaries as they do in regular movies.
Speaking of Tony Curtis, when he first appeared, I thought that he was Rodney Dangerfield!