At the time, simply allowing the gay community to tell their own stories, in their own words, was a radical act, and Livingston gave her subjects space to discuss the pleasure and pain of queer existence with unvarnished honesty. #VINTAGE FULL GAY MOVIES SERIAL#ĭebate and controversy still surround the film - some subjects accused Livingston of underpaying them for their participation, for one - but it remains a vital and uncommonly empathetic work.Ĭast: Kenneth Nelson, Peter White, Leonard FreyĪ decade before he sparked outrage with Cruising, the thriller in which Al Pacino goes undercover in a gay leather bar to hunt down a serial killer, director William Friedkin presented this portrait of a group of New York friends on the cusp of liberation.
Set around a birthday party, it’s one of the first features to deal with gay life on its own terms, including copious boozing, relationship strains and lacerating recriminations.
