16 Aug

16:45

Eye Filmmuseum

IJpromenade 1, Amsterdam

An informative and amusing insight into the gay subtext in mainstream Hollywood films, featuring dozens of film fragments from early slapstick to modern classics.

The Celluloid Closet

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Hollywood's Hidden History

Robert Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman selected dozens of film fragments for this informative insight into the gay subtext in mainstream Hollywood films, from early slapstick to Ben-Hur and Thelma and Louise. The examples offered are as bewildering as they are amusing.

Starting with portrayals of the caricature 'sissy' in the silent film and 'tough women' (lesbians) in the early sound film, we are taken to the 1950s, when gay characters on the whole were still firmly in the closet (William Wyler's Ben-Hur). We then move on to a more positive approach in the 1970s (Cabaret by Bob Fosse), to end with overt homosexuality in the cinema of the 1990s (Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia).

The filmmakers alternated the fragments with interviews with writers, actors and directors, including celebrities like Gore Vidal, Susie Bright, Susan Sarandon and Tom Hanks; all of them offer an instructive and entertaining insight into Hollywood censorship and gay emancipation. Inspired by Vito Russo’s influential book (1981).

Part of Queer Power

This screening is part of the Queer Power programme. Celebrate freedom, diversity, and inclusion at Eye, where Queer Power puts queer films from a wide range of countries and cultures in the spotlight all summer long.