Do you want to see ‘Paris Is Burning’?

Add to Netflix

Paris Is Burning (1991)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

100

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 0

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 2,944

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Poignant, well-received documentary that reveals the community of New York's minority drag queens, gay black and Latino men who cross dress as women and invent the dance style of "voguing," imitating the fashion poses on the covers of the magazine Vogue. As director Jennie Livingston discovers, her subjects band together into family-like "houses" for protection, taking the same last names and competing in drag balls where awards are given out for authenticity or "realness," as well as other

R, 1 hr. 11 min.

Documentary, Gay & Lesbian, Special Interest

Directed By: Jennie Livingston

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1990 Wide

On DVD: Sep 6, 2005

Academy Entertainment

Paris Is Burning Trailer & Photos

Cast

Critic Reviews for Paris Is Burning

All Critics (19) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (0) | DVD (5)

Livingston is smart enough to realize that her subjects are best equipped to explain themselves.

July 10, 2009 Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com

| Comment

Jeremy Heilman

MovieMartyr.com

This landmark docu celebrates the resourcefulness of a group that's subcultural but not truly countercultural--its denizens long to become members of the society they imitate, operating at its periphery.

October 6, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Fantastic, voyeuristic look at a world most people know nothing about...and maybe don't want to!

September 21, 2005 Full Review | Comment

Michael Szymanski

Wordmag.com

Hardly a drag. Fifteen years later, Paris still burns with life.

September 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

Slant Magazine

The beauty of the film is Livingston's nonjudgmental, accommodating camera.

September 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

Slant Magazine

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Paris Is Burning

View All

Intruiging documentary about the lives of homosexuals and drag balls in Harlem, specifically vogueing, the art of dancing in a way that rips off runway models. The way these people look at certain things in life, it's obvious they've become separated from reality a bit if only because of the way they've been cast away

August 11, 2008

Derek Daniels

Super Reviewer

It's just fab that there are any documentaries as revealing and close to its subjects as 'Paris Is Burning'. An obvious landmark for queer filmmaking, a paradigm examination of documentary subjects - footage of people emoting and expressing raw feelings. Beautiful

February 2, 2008