The landmark gay film of the Stonewall era
Added 7/12/2009
William Friedkin's 1970 adaptation of THE BOYS IN THE BAND preserved so much of the original Mort Crowley play that it's almost a filmed testmanet of that incredibly important off-Broadway play about a group of gay men at a birthday party. Except for the fascinating credits sequence, which opens out the play to the rest of New York as the men travel through Manhattan to prepare for the party, the entirety of the film is confined to Michael's city apartment and its patio (which were owned in real life by the broadway actress Tammy Grimes), which allows Friedkin to retain the play's overheated atmosphere. Crowley also did the screenplay, and kept almost all of his lines from the play; best of all, Crowley insisted the film retain the excellent cast of nine men who performed the play off-Broadway and who all did themselves honor here with their layered performances. So it's as exact a realization of the play as one might hope for, yet the actors scale down their performances for the screen quite adeptly and Friedkin imagines to make the film quite cinematic, as when the bizarre character of Harold, the party's birthday boy, makes his showstopping entrance halfway through the movie: Friedkin introduces him by closeups on his shoes, ring and velvet jacket, which arrests the whole proceedings and alerts you to how important and powerful this character is going to be to the rest of the film.
This is a landmark gay film, and was greatly criticized during the Eighties as retrograde and weakening for the gay cause; even today many gay men will complain about this film and object that it portrays gay men as self-loathing and cruel, and that it shows nothing of the more positive aspects of the late twentieth-century American gay community. Yet other gay men have argued that it shows an important side of who urban American gay men not only were in the years before Stonewall (the film is set in 1967) but even since. The fact that it can generate such controversy was part of Crowley's clear original intention, and part of the intelligence in the film is its ambivalence regarding certain key points germane to the films politics: why did Alan call Michael in tears in the first place? What is the nature of Harold's relationship with Michael, and what did Michael write on the engraved photo he gives Harold as a gift? What is the nature of Donald's complex friendship with Michael?
The entire cast is uniformly superb, although Leonard Frey as the alarming Harold (who gets most of the film's best lines) really outdoes himself and makes the greatest impression. The screenplay (like the play's script before it) owes too much in terms of its structure to WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, particularly in its last fifteen minutes of monstrous games, shattering revelations, and (most regrettable of all) sobbing catharses, but the film still overcomes that structural drawback. This is really an important work.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Very satisfied...
Added 5/1/2009
I am completely satisfied with this purchase and would not hesitate to buy again from this seller.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Great Flick - Still Relevant and not Dated!
Added 4/27/2009
This was my coming out flick on first date! It was nice seeing it decades later! Great print and great extras!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Amazing Film
Added 4/15/2009
BOYS IN THE BAND has recently come to DVD and it is about time because it was virtually unavailable on VHS for years. This is the film version of the hit OFF Bwy play and unlike Hollywood they used the ENTIRE OFF Bwy cast in the film.
The movie is a milestone virtually introducing Iowa to a lifestyle they never knew existed. It may be hard to imagine for movie and TV viewers today but homosexuality did not appear on the screen prior to this film. Certainly not a story where each and every character but one was gay. Credit a director with the stature of a William Friedkin for actually getting this film made.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Delightful !!!!!!!!!!
Added 4/4/2009
Saw this movie years ago, great then and great now. A must see for all walks of life, you just may find out what REALLY goes on on the other side of the gate.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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The landmark gay film of the Stonewall era
Added 7/12/2009
William Friedkin's 1970 adaptation of THE BOYS IN THE BAND preserved so much of the original Mort Crowley play that it's almost a filmed testmanet of that incredibly important off-Broadway play about a group of gay men at a birthday party. Except for the fascinating credits sequence, which opens out the play to the rest of New York as the men travel through Manhattan to prepare for the party, the entirety of the film is confined to Michael's city apartment and its patio (which were owned in real life by the broadway actress Tammy Grimes), which allows Friedkin to retain the play's overheated atmosphere. Crowley also did the screenplay, and kept almost all of his lines from the play; best of all, Crowley insisted the film retain the excellent cast of nine men who performed the play off-Broadway and who all did themselves honor here with their layered performances. So it's as exact a realization of the play as one might hope for, yet the actors scale down their performances for the screen quite adeptly and Friedkin imagines to make the film quite cinematic, as when the bizarre character of Harold, the party's birthday boy, makes his showstopping entrance halfway through the movie: Friedkin introduces him by closeups on his shoes, ring and velvet jacket, which arrests the whole proceedings and alerts you to how important and powerful this character is going to be to the rest of the film.
This is a landmark gay film, and was greatly criticized during the Eighties as retrograde and weakening for the gay cause; even today many gay men will complain about this film and object that it portrays gay men as self-loathing and cruel, and that it shows nothing of the more positive aspects of the late twentieth-century American gay community. Yet other gay men have argued that it shows an important side of who urban American gay men not only were in the years before Stonewall (the film is set in 1967) but even since. The fact that it can generate such controversy was part of Crowley's clear original intention, and part of the intelligence in the film is its ambivalence regarding certain key points germane to the films politics: why did Alan call Michael in tears in the first place? What is the nature of Harold's relationship with Michael, and what did Michael write on the engraved photo he gives Harold as a gift? What is the nature of Donald's complex friendship with Michael?
The entire cast is uniformly superb, although Leonard Frey as the alarming Harold (who gets most of the film's best lines) really outdoes himself and makes the greatest impression. The screenplay (like the play's script before it) owes too much in terms of its structure to WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, particularly in its last fifteen minutes of monstrous games, shattering revelations, and (most regrettable of all) sobbing catharses, but the film still overcomes that structural drawback. This is really an important work.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Very satisfied...
Added 5/1/2009
I am completely satisfied with this purchase and would not hesitate to buy again from this seller.
0 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Great Flick - Still Relevant and not Dated!
Added 4/27/2009
This was my coming out flick on first date! It was nice seeing it decades later! Great print and great extras!
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
