'Stonewall' stands out at Outfest

Film Festival

'Stonewall' stands out at Outfest
By Nik Trendowski
Staff Writer

Once upon a time, when we were ho-mo-sex-ual, a few queens in Sheridan Square got tired of being pushed around. "Stonewall" describes itself as being one drag queen's Stonewall story.
To most people, the name Stonewall doesn't mean a thing, but to the politically aware among us, Stonewall marks the beginning of an era. It's hard to believe what little existed of gay rights or even visibility before Stonewall, and one film can't hope to capture it all. However, "Stonewall" manages to transcend even its own high-concept pretension of capturing a revolution by capturing the essence of a few of the revolution's participants.
"Stonewall" opens, uninspiringly, with lipstick being applied, followed by snippets of documentary footage of various people telling their Stonewall stories. This is disconcerting to the viewer expecting a drama. Then, the film eases into La Miranda's story, without any warning of the dense, well-acted and perfectly-paced story to come.
Nigel Finch's film does a beautiful job of capturing not only the apprehension and fear some gays felt in the pre-Stonewall era but the subtle undercurrent that led to the rebellion against a police raid one hot night at the Stonewall Inn on New York City's Christopher Street. When members of the Mattachine Society take a couple of journalists around town to try to order drinks (serving drinks to self-announced homosexuals being illegal then), the only place they can get turned down is the Stonewall Inn, the Mafia-owned, unassuming Greenwich Village bar that would, unbeknownst to it, become a shrine later on.
Matty Dean (Frederick Weller) becomes the core of the film when he steps into Manhattan at the Port Authority bus terminal. The only part of the film that's not quite believable is Matty's irresistible combination of boisterous activism and blatant sexiness. It's hard to believe a Southern-accented boy could have been quite so out. Yet Matty drives the film and energizes its players, whether sitting in for La Miranda (Guillermo Diaz) in an outrageous draft-board scene or leading the charge in the Stonewall rebellion.
La Miranda's and Matty Dean's on-again, off-again relationship is suprisingly realistic. There is intimacy and--when Matty gives in to the affections of Ethan (Brendan Corbalis), a soft-spoken Mattachine Society activist--heartache. The other primary relationship in the film is much more closeted and stilted but just as real. Skinny Vinnie (Bruce MacVittie), the owner of the bar, carries on a secret romance with Bostonia (Duane Boutte), apparently the head drag queen of the crew. The way their relationship plays out is devastating, yet all too real. The acting is emotional and near-perfect across the board, despite the absence of any well-known film actors.
It's hard to escape being elegiac about a film whose director died during its production, but then this only adds to the gravity of the work and ultimately, its place in the pantheon of great gay films. It's unclear whether Finch's direction, Rikki Beadle Blair's screenplay full of subtly campy dialogue, Martin Duberman's book on which the film is based, or Christine Vachon's shiny production are responsible for the way "Stonewall" hits all the right notes, but it does.
"johns," on the other hand, is a film with a much smaller concept, and even then it falls short. A cute, scruffy David Arquette and a thin, greasy Lukas Haas turn in tepid performances as two hustlers on Santa Monica Boulevard.
The film's central conceit, other than purporting to document the fictional lives of some very tame hustlers, is that Arquette's name is Johnand so are the names of half the people he meets, not that this has any more significance than mere coincidence. The relationship between John and Donner (Haas), a refugee from parents who didn't care for his coming out, is the most compelling one of the film. It seems Donner feels both love (which he denies) and a certain reverence for his mentor, who seems to get into more trouble in one day than most delinquents.
Apart from the actors' unconvincing performances, what realism there is in the film seems contrived. The film, as Donner's voice-over helpfully points out, begins and ends with John's shoes, which get stolen at the beginning of the film. But there's not much meat in a film that begins and ends with shoes.
Writer/director Scott Silver seems to have an interesting idea in documenting the lives of a couple of hustlers and their numerous friends. But the fictionalization so tones down the hustling life that it seems almost precious. Ultimately, "johns" remains a slight confection of a movie despite some last grabs at importance via tragedy. Sure, Arquette looks cute with a condom in his mouth, but it's just hard to believe the goofy protagonists could be hustlers in the first place.

"Stonewall" screens at the Outfest `96 opening gala, 8 p.m., Thursday, July 11, and opens in theaters July 26. "johns" screens at 9:15 p.m. Friday, July 13 and opens in theaters in October. Outfest `96 runs through Sunday, July 21 at the Director's Guild of America, Sunset Boulevard west of Fairfax Avenue. For tickets and other showtimes, call (213) 782-1125.