Paris Is Burning

Feels strangely nostalgic & sad. Watching this from 2020 is like watching a species that went extinct, despite being so beautiful and perhaps because of being rare and fragile. Also the ambivalent relation of this sub(counter?)culture to their antagonist was quite interesting: do they parody the rich and the white celebrity culture, or do they wanna be one of them genuinely? I guess it's both. Made me think about avantgarde and how it's hopeless before market forces. & Fuck elmakebabi's review!

There are eight million stories in the naked city, and these are among the most fringe. This film's observations on class, race, and sexuality are abundant, but its quintessence is a shared yearning for exposure, acknowledgment, a small fame. It's exhilarating to watch these freedoms of expression, and just the same sad to know that it all exists as marginalia, a group who struggle for justice, humanization, and plain survival.

I was struck by the lack of camp in the performances -- the pantomimes (of businessmen, of women, of people whose status invariably seems to have some socially recognized value) are not grotesque exaggerations but sincere attempts at reproduction. It's a movie about those on the margins who wish they weren't but whose attempts to fit in, through their participation in this subculture, only accentuate & exacerbate that marginality.

Very interesting and engaging documentation of a vibrant subculture in a specific place & time that I had little prior knowledge of. The fact that it plays out like a loose assemblage of raw footage is mostly a strength of this. It lacks any overarching perspective, analysis or narrative but considering the subject matter, it's relevant enough to let these voices be heard in the first place. Bypasses any forced pretentiousness or uncomfortable exploitation leaving room for precious empathy.

An absolute must-see for anyone queer, genderqueer or even just into drag or voguing as an art form. And even for straight people, not interested in the above, it's still a valuable educational experience. A simple, yet surprisingly powerful documentary about the struggle for self-expression among oppressed groups and the importance of sanctuary and safe spaces. Also, it's great to now finally understand so many of the references made on Drag Race.

Beautiful portrait of an underground minority group's self-expression in a time of crises.

This would be only an extremely good doc if it weren't for the sequence toward the end of the film intercutting interviews with transwomen Octavia and Venus. Their responses as to what they want from their futures are common and simple, but heartbreaking given the context.

A fascinating look at the gay and trans black culture of Harlem of the late 80's. It's a culture that led to "vogueing" and RuPaul's Drag Race. While gay & trans people are still discriminated against, their modern travails don't hold a candle to the men here who were living in a far less tolerant time and had no idea they were pioneering something that would be celebrated enough 30 years later to build a tv show around. The doc itself is pioneering, humanizing a then hidden subculture.

There are a lot of very interesting personalities and social ideas to explore here, but the film does a terrible job of doing so. The structure is a mess, the central core of the film, bals, is by far the least interesting thing in the movie, everything is bathed in a disgusting veneer of 80s materialism and I don't think I'll ever understand the concept of "culture as personality" in this or any context. Some of the content is worth watching this for, but it's a slog.

This is a world that is totally foreign to me; I am not black, I am not gay, and sartorial considerations are very low on my list of priorities. Even so, watching this I was not struck by any pangs of 'they're so interesting because they're so different from me', rather I was swept away by the sheer presence of everyone in the film. I also learned lots of new lingo. It's an ethnographic film, and a good one at that.

You own everything. Everything is yours." I love getting an inside scoop of a world I am not familiar with at all, just a fabulous fly on the wall. If I was in New York during this time, bitch forget about catching a Knicks game, we getting tickets to THIS. "Did you see the way she just looked at her, that bitch playin' 4D chess with those heels."

Technically rough and haphazard but still fascinating documentary/slice-of-life is a meditation and successful humanisation of what would have been considered 'freak' culture at the time - its lack of a narrative spine (and a certain repetitiveness) is occasionally frustrating. Still manages the difficult task of capturing its own time and milieu with authenticity, without looking hokey and dated 30 years later. Climactic revelation of the fate of one of its subjects feels rushed and muffled.

I understand and agree with a lot of the feminist criticisms written about this doc but it's still an incredible piece that hits at a deep emotional level.

I wanna be hated just like they were.

"The beauty of the film is Livingston's nonjudgmental, accommodating camera." - Fernando F. Croce

An interesting movie that explores New York's gay lower class. It reeks of the 1980s so its style is pretty obnoxious at times (I don't suppose that the focus on flamboyant drag queens helps that) but it's a decent enough watch one time around.

It turns out that gay people have a whole subculture all their own, complete with their own slang. Who'da thunk it? Fascinating look at an alternate universe that's been right under my nose all my life without my noticing

Quite an interesting depiction of the world of New York balls circa 1987, "Paris Is Burning" features an array of talking heads that bring up significant points. Nevertheless, this ensemble logic keeps it from having a protagonist, a main subject to focus on, follow and delve into. Arguably, the protagonist is actually the scene itself, and by extension, the community as a whole, but even then, its arc regarding its evolution over time is rather hastily done, and therefore lacks effectiveness.

lindo

Interesting exploration of the trans/drag scene in NYC in the late '80s. It does a really good job of showcasing interesting personalities and a completely different way of life without lapsing into any kind of exploitation

The subject matter is amazing. But I'm not sure if it's great filmmaking.

this is the greatest show

this was an experience

Could have used maybe a bit more structure, but maybe that would have lessened it idk

Nov 03, 2018 Kurtköy

Paris is Burning estreava há 30 anos no Festival de Toronto. Esse filme não é um clássico à toa, é amplamente maravilhoso e se você notar os agradecimentos a John Waters, Werner Herzog e Frederic Wiseman nos créditos finais isso dá o tom de como essas influências reverberam e tornaram o filme uma obra-prima. WEBRip no MakingOff.

Probably the most uninteresting subject for a documentary.

It's just so right there, full of pain and yearning and hard-won joy.

I love the energy in this film, the colorful personalities and the idea that you can be whoever you want at those balls. But I would prefer seeing them embrace their individuality and uniqueness rather than trying to "pass" as something or other. And there were also a lot of gender stereotyping done by people who it seems to me should know better. But hey, those were the 80's! I still love these brave beautiful people and I am outraged at the discrimination and violence they have to endure,

The culture that developed back at the time is super interesting and there is something moving about people finding a place where they can blossom, but I had a hard time developing any sympathy for the people in the documentary, mostly talking about competition, becoming famous, wealthy, having access to luxury... Maybe it's the director's mistake, I'm not sure. But I tend to think it's more a failure of identity politics.

incredible poignant classic

NY drag queens, their dreams, their fears, their desires, their own culture of vogue dance, runway, thematic balls (with military and even exec costumes). All shot by Livingston's careful, gentle eye of taking the details and building a bigger picture, a true family: they just want to have fun and have a normal life like the rest of us. They want expensive stuff, to be famous, to love, to live. A whisper of freedom through performing, a escape from broken families, abandon and street violence.

realness

a really interesting exploration of a diverse and thoroughly underrated subculture. i was so often surprised to find that women that not only looked like women, but looked like extremely beautiful women, were actually transgender. it was kind of tragic in its own way, to see how close they were to what they wanted, and yet unable to ever attain it. the only thing i'd say could have been better, was the rather hectic editing style.

Seminal film. Humanizing and hilarious in a way that is out of fashion in documentary filmmaking. Political and socially critical but without an obvious thesis.

The answer to the Kirk Douglas film Is Paris Burning?

88.000

Has a pseudo liquid sky aesthetic.

Gayness with a pseudo liquid sky aesthetic.

got to be real