FABULOUS! THE STORY OF QUEER CINEMA

I've decided to rename this film Frustrating! The Subjective Documentary About Queer Cinema.

I had reason to be optimistic when I saw the names and faces of directors and actors that have been making gay and lesbian films on the cover of the DVD. These people should have a lot to say about the history of gay cinema. But apparently according to Fabulous! any gay or lesbian films before, say, 1990, or say from a country outside America are irrelevant to the history of homosexuality portrayed in films.

This documentary is mainly memorable for what it does NOT include, as opposed to the films that it features. It chooses to highlight Gus Van Sant's first film Mala Noche, but doesn't mention at all My Own Private Idaho. It lingers on the middling comedy Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, but there is no mention... NO MENTION (let me re-iterate) of Pedro Almodóvar. What the? Uber-producer Christine Vachon (who is inarguably an awesome person for getting so many indie films made) actually says, "At the time [Todd Haynes'] Poison came out, there were no gay movies, really." Poison hit Sundance in 1991. Longtime Companion (not mentioned) was nominated for a freakin' Supporting Actor Oscar (for Bruce Davison's lovely performance) in 1990.

It is too bad that such glaring and weird editorial omissions are so distracting, because Fabulous! could have and should have been an extremely interesting documentary. The guest list of people interviewed is to die for, and the topic is of course very rich. But Fabulous! is immediately frustrating when you realize that it is subjectively editing the history of cinema. There is no mention of The Children's Hour (because it was bleak?) or Boys in the Band (because it was 70s cheesy?), or the infamous Cruising, or the groundbreaking Dog Day Afternoon, whose character (Al Pacino!) robs a bank so his boyfriend can get a sex change operation.

Plus foreign films are completely ignored. What about the Brits' Another Country, My Beautiful Laundrette, and Maurice? Or Entre Nous from France, or Aimee & Jaguar from Germany, or When Night is Falling from that oh-so-foreign country of Canada? I'm sure that the guests would have had interesting things to say about the truly bigger world of cinema...

And you know what? They do! Surprisingly, the more interesting tidbits are included in the extras, which include the interviewees talking about such topics as the first gay film they ever saw, films they think are hot, and films that influenced them. There you will find many mentions of the otherwise missing films. This film made me realize that the topic is much bigger than a feature documentary can handle. Since the excellent The Celluloid Closet is now out of date, and this film sure doesn't fill in the rest of the blanks, I challenge, say Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey to make the ultimate Ken Burns-ish documentary series about the history of queer cinema. Or, heck, maybe Ken himself will do it!