Customer Reviews

Paris Is Burning

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In the beginning of this film, one of the commentators says that he was told that he has two strikes against him: he is black and male. But in addition to that, he has a third strike: he's gay. "You're going to have to be stronger than you ever imagined," he is told. "Paris is Burning" is a documentary about gay black and Hispanic men who are tranvestites (men who dress in women's clothing) or transsexuals (people who have The Operation and become, biologically, the opposite sex). They come together and hold "balls" in which they compete in categories like "Executive Realness," "Opulence," and "the Boy Who Robbed You a Few Minutes before Arriving at the Ball." Although several of these categories seem like a satire of society at large, we are told by elder stateswoman/cynic/voice of reason Dorian Corey that "this isn't a parody or take-off. They are very seriously trying to pass as what they are dressing up as." The miracle of "Paris is Burning" is that director Jennie Livingston takes a subject that could have very easily become a freak show and allows the people in it their humanity. We learn their views of homosexuality, men, women, their hopes, their disappointments, their dreams. [...]
This is not a film for everyone. There are shots in this movie of nude transsexuals. It is definitely not for children, and if you have a problem with homosexuality, then this movie isn't for you, either. But if you do see this movie you'll realize "Paris is Burning" isn't really about men wearing women's clothes, it's about a group of people who are routinely marginalized and put down by society at large, and what they do to get a sense of community in their lives.
I've watched this movie four times since it was released in 1991, because it says so many things: it's a commentary about materialism in our culture, about gender roles, about rich and poor people, about the media and what it celebrates, about fame and adulation. "Paris is Burning" is one of the most humane, and one of the saddest, movies I've ever seen.

It's hard to believe that the goings on in Paris Is Burning is almost 20 years old. I saw it in a Midtown Atlanta theater in 1992, and was just blown away by it. The whole notion that people scrabble for a bare existence 99% of their time so they can shine for 1% sounds cute or depressing or trite, depending on your current level of treacle versus cynicism... But once you see people honest to God living that way, that patronizing distance is gone. A really good film. Really, really good.

I first saw this movie in 1991 during my first week at Hampshire College at some theater in Northampton Massachussetts. I was about 17 and had just come out as a latino gay male. I cannot begin to tell you how this movie impacted my life. Paris is Burning has given be comic material and one-liners for well over a decade. Regardless of class, race, or gender, my circle of friends can recite at least one brilliant line from the movie. The DVD has new outtakes and some choice commentary by the very wise and articulate Dorian Corey. Dorian discusses the lack of imagination that exists among today's youth as a result of their reliance on popular media for entertainment. Furthermore, the "ball scene" is a parody of the social paradigm, where roles are played and an outfit, designer label, or the ability to "pass", brings the marginalized individual one step closer to the "American Dream", if only for that fleeting moment on the ballroom floor. "At one time or another we have all lusted to walk a ballroom floor".

I remember seeing this movie when it first came out in the early nineties. To a (much younger) black gay man at the time it was a hugely significant piece of work. Looking at it more than ten years later now, I feel it's just as significant if only in a historical context. If any black gay man no matter where he lives in the world, wants to get a taste of what life was like for many of his peers back then in New York City, then this is a must. I was there (albeit very briefly) and I can't think of a more accurate snapshot. This one should definitely go into the time capsule!

I LOVE this movie and have had the VHS for years.
I can't believe the tape hasn't broke yet from viewing
it so much. I am SO GLAD to finally see that it's on DVD
and I can buy another copy!

Pepper LaBeija - Pepper LaBeija :-) Ives St. Laurent of course!

Excellent documentary showing how young, gay, poor, urban, black and Latino kids desperately want to fit in somewhere. The balls are vehicles for these kids to pretend that they are not outsiders. View it with an open mind and you'll be moved.

Indeed this film is about marginalization, impossible dreams, etc., but while the tragic aspect is there, the reviewer from Tokyo is right -- this film may also be one of the most uplifting ever made. I must add, this film is actually an important visual document of classic music from the NYC "Paradise Garage" club era and of that dance style known as "Voguing" -- like rare footage from the era of Birdland and lindy-hopping, or of breakdancing in the early 1980's, the film captures something which can only be seen to be understood. Madonna co-opted it but here one sees its essence, and rarely elsewhere. It is an indispensable VISUAL and AURAL historical document.

I first saw this film in London when it was doing the festivals and my friends & I - black and white alike - immediately got caught up in the world of balls, houses, legends, categories, shade, reading, walking and mopping. There's a remarkable transformative moment around two thirds of the way through where a pretty young transsexual, Octavia, attends a modelling competition in a white suburban shopping mall and as we, the viewers, are confronted by a sea of white, straight, comfortably-off faces we find ourselves wondering, 'Well, what do these people do? They don't walk in balls. They don't compete in categories. What do they have in their lives?' At that moment one is - or I was - totally caught up in the world view of the participants in Paris is Burning. It's strange to rewatch now what was then a contemporary piece, and which gave the viewer a portrait of the world of voguing before Madonna opened it up to the great white suburbs, but it's still one of the most vividly human films I've ever seen.

The dvd features a clean wide-screen print, deleted and extended scenes, and a commentary track. The extra scenes are mostly interesting. There's a whole strand on the religious beliefs of the leading participants, and how they view their sexuality in light of those beliefs. There's brief footage of Willie Ninja's (wheelchair-bound) mother attending a ball - particularly interesting in light of bell hooks' critique of the film, where she observes that it tends to downplay biological family connections. Only a rather long sequence of a peace festival seems out of place, but even that is tied into an interview with Pepper Labeija and others where war, the military, uniforms, masculinity and machismo are discussed.

After watching the deleted scenes I went straight on to listen to the commentary track, which features director Jennie Livingstone and her editor, and two of the leading characters in the film, one of whom, Willie Ninja, went on to have success as a dancer-choreographer with Malcolm Mclaren and, of course, Madonna. Commentaries are often flabby and dull, but this one isn't. Everyone is to the point and the listener learns a lot, both about the business of putting the film together and about the interplay of film-maker and participants. All four seem fond of each other and clearly enjoy reliving the times when the film was shot. We find out who is still with us and hear the story of the mummified body found in Dorian Corey's flat (about which I remember reading years ago) from those who knew him. I found particularly interesting remarks about what the ball scene is like now. ('It used to be Legends. Now we've gone to Icons'). Commentaries can really drag but this one whisks by.

I read in a recent issue of gay monthly Attitude that there's a follow-up documentary (not by Livingstone) that one can buy mail-order on dvd, by which means the makers hope to finance cinema distribution. Whilst that doesn't make me that optimistic about its quality it certainly sounds worth a look.

Reading many of the reviews I'm saddened to see that most people today don't know that the House scene, still is, alive and very well. The Los Angeles House scene, yes modeled from that of the NY scene, is 11 houses and strong, with many fierce, and fabulous balls to brag about baby. Although most of the categories have been modified and simplified with a lil' L.A. flava our balls hold true to where we first began.
Many of the House family members display their voguing in the L.A. hip hop club scene. However our style of voguing has changed slightly, we 'chop', 'sha-blam', and 'shut 'em down' with ol' school/new school flava. Enjoying our unity as a community, a family, and as a people. See you at the next ball.
:-)

This documentary insightfully shows the audience a segment of the population which is either ignored or persecuted for just being themselves. It is a funny, endearing, interesting and powerful film.