Beatty, Maria

1990

This hour-long documentary seeks to answer the questions, "What is performance art? Why do women do it? And what are the strengths of this medium for putting across a political message?" Many of the currently active women performance artists speak to these questions in Sphinxes Without Secrets, so the video should be of special interest to fans of Rachael Rosenthal, Arlene Raven, Diamanda Galas, and Robby McCauley, whose works are featured. Many others give their opinions, including Annie Sprinkle, who does something new with her breasts. While the opinionating is less engaging than the performances (and be warned, these theatrical pieces are not shown to their best advantage on video), what is striking is the overview, shown in 30 or 40 short sequences, of the range and energy of activity. Fantastical costumes, glimpsed briefly, compelling bodywork, and the images of many women engaged in such different ways onstage, most effectively describes the importance of performance art. Recommended for theatre buffs, East Villagers, artist-activists, and costumers.

Kojima, Yasushi

1990

1990

Tartaglia, Jerry

1990

"Growing up as I did, watching movies," says filmmaker Jerry Tartaglia on the soundtrack of Remembrance, ". . . I naturally assumed that life was glamorous, friends were charming and witty, and, style being everything, of course, that parties were elegant and sophisticated." Repeated scenes from All About Eve and his own home movies only prove him partly wrong.

Tartaglia, Jerry

1990

"Growing up as I did, watching movies," says filmmaker Jerry Tartaglia on the soundtrack of Remembrance, ". . . I naturally assumed that life was glamorous, friends were charming and witty, and, style being everything, of course, that parties were elegant and sophisticated." Repeated scenes from All About Eve and his own home movies only prove him partly wrong.

Walton, Pam

1986

This "talking heads" documentary short makes its points quickly and concisely by introducing the viewer to a small group of lesbians discussing their lives.

Rainer, Yvonne

1990

Whittaker, Stephen

1990

Whittaker, Stephen

1990

Portrait of a Marriage is the story of the tempestuous relationship of Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis-Keppel. After five years of marriage Vita's husband, Harold Nicholson, confesses his homosexuality. Ironically, at the same time Vita's childhood friend, Violet, tells her that she has always loved her. This is the beginning of the women's passionate and moody relationship. Disguised as a married couple, they stay in hotels, spending an exciting and romantic time in France. Vita feels homesick for her children and guilty for betraying Harold but, back home, postpones telling him the truth. When Violet marries Deny Trefusis—under the condition that they have no sex—Vita becomes jealous, afraid she'll lost Violet. They meet again and decide to spend their lives together. Both tell their husbands. As the women are on their way to the South of France, the men decide to follow and bring them back home. Vita is portrayed as very ambivalent; incapable of hurting Harold because of her tender, sweet nature and incapable of forgetting Violet because she is passionately in love with her. Since this reflects the point of view of Vita's son, Nigel Nicholson (he wrote the book that the film is based on), it is understandable that he was happy his parents found one another again.

de Kuyper, Eric

1990

If Pink Narcissus were remade for the ‘90s, here's what it would look like: sexier, more self-conscious, a riper kind of camp. Director Eric de Kuyper previously made an impression on San Francisco audiences with Casta Diva, Naughty Boys, and A Strange Love Affair—all movies in which the stories are drowned beneath operatic tableaux of irresistible, unattainable men. Pink Ulysses is a step in the direction of a tangy and intoxicating new gay style. Eric de Kuyper is a bit like Homer's Penelope, who wove by day and undid the same work each night. Pink Ulysses is a patchwork of ideas and heavenly bodies, gingerly held together by the thread of Ulysses's twenty-year-long return from Troy. There's the narrative—some nonsense about Penelope fancying her son more than her long-gone Homeric hubby—which is shot in the style of those Italian Steve Reeves pictures, all saturated color and anachronistic historical detail (Penelope carries a patent leather clutchbag). The other part of the film works like footnotes like explore fantasies: an extended black-and-white jerk-off scene involving a boy and his mirror , a long anecdote about a husband and his inebriate wife, and pop-video inserts to a giddy mix of music, from Zarah Leander to Stravinsky's “Rites of Spring.”Give Ulysses all your attention—not just for the loin-clothed beefcake and caustic camp, but for the sleepy, slow passages and intellectual pirouettes. Whichever way you look at it, Pink Ulysses is clearly going to be one of the year's cultiest gay movies.