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Gay Sex in the 70's (2005)
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Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 16
Rotten:8
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Theatrical Release:Nov 4, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Documentary producer/director Joseph Lovett focuses his lens on the unbridled sexual passion and exploration that marked the twelve years from Stonewall (1969) to the first reported cases of AIDS... Documentary producer/director Joseph Lovett focuses his lens on the unbridled sexual passion and exploration that marked the twelve years from Stonewall (1969) to the first reported cases of AIDS (1981). With access to a filmic and photographic treasure trove of erotic life on New York's West Side Piers, trucks, bars, dance clubs, baths and beaches, Lovett's cast of storytellers takes us from the remarkably repressed pre-Stonewall period to an era of sexual excess unparallelled since ancient Rome. Straightforward, funny and titllating at the same time, they tell their stories with remarkable wit, humor and perspective. For younger people - those who became sexually active after the age of AIDS - this film may be a startling revelation of what everyday life was like when American youth were cutting loose from Puritanical values and ascribing to the watchword of the time, "if it feels good, do it." --© Official Site [More]
Director: Joseph Lovett, Tom Bianchi
Director: Joseph Lovett, Tom Bianchi
Screenwriter: Larry Kramer
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Release:
Jun 6, 2006
Reviews for Gay Sex in the 70's
Shows us the faces of some of the gay activists involved with that free love party scene who survived.
... lacks the authority of such gay documentary classics as "Word Is Out" and "Before Stonewall," which were far more inclusive.
The only clear message is of aging men enjoying a nostalgia trip... and thumbing their noses at the younger gay men who missed the party.
There is, however, little socio-political insight into the Dionysian revolution depicted here; the film seems to serve more as a nostalgia piece than anything.
It's not exactly clear what the message is for the gay community of today, except to say, 'Those days were fun while they lasted and sorry you weren't around to experience it.'
An engrossing piece of social history, a lively, astonishingly well-documented excavation of that period between June 1969 and June 1981 when gay men in New York experienced a bacchanalian burst of sexual liberation.
The faces of that movement are what sell this story -- with enthusiasm, not regret.
Despite the retrospective sensationalism, Lovett's 70-minute documentary is a sobering anti-erotic cautionary tale.
It's a worthwhile documentary on a worthy subject, one that is pursued painstakingly by director Joseph F. Lovett.
... Lovett's tribute to a bygone era feels like it might resonate deeper if context and character overpowered story upon story of sexual excess.
Lovett backs up his assertion that the decade bracketed by the 1969 Stonewall riots, marking the beginning of gay liberation, and the emergence of AIDS in 1981 was 'the most libertine period the Western world has known since the Roman Empire.'
Lovett's lively, impassioned, well-structured documentary is enhanced by stacks of explicit photos and the reminiscences of men who lived through the decade.
Lacks narrative drive but is useful as an original source of info about gay rights.
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