That Man: Peter Berlin
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Actor: Armistead Maupin, Jim Tushinski, John WatersBrand: Water Bearer Films
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Black & White, Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, DVD, Full length, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 80 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Water Bearer Films
DVD Reviews of That Man: Peter Berlin
DVD Review: Curious artifact. . .
Summary: 2 Stars
This DVD probably merits two and a half stars. As Peter Berlin came well before my time, it's somewhat difficult to appreciate the impact that he supposedly had on 70's gay culture as it was defined by gay (white) men.
This documentary is a curious artifact of a long-dead cultural moment that is still remembered with fondness by people who were there. Aside from the subject himself, interviewees include author Armistead Maupin, Former porn star Jack Wrangler, Porn director Wakefield Poole, and, best of all, filmmaker John Waters ("Hairspray," "Pink Flamingos") who provide interesting and insightful comments on the subject, his life and the free-wheeling era of 1970's gay life. Were it not for these interludes, there would certainly not be much of a film.
This documentary traces ad nauseum the life and career (if one could call it that) of a figure who, like many others of the period (see John Rechy) lived through his genitals. Other than that, there is not much more to it. The plethora of photos and footage here convey that Berlin was a gorgeous but often hideously narcisistic specimen (think Dorian Gray, without the angst), who spent his entire life walking, posing and roaming the bars, streets, parks and many other underground gay by-ways of major cities in Europe and, in America, California and New York 24/7. German-born and bred, Berlin was a Tom of Finland cartoon come to life, a would-be porn star (he only made two such films) far less interested in sex than in flagrant exhibitionism and his effect on his rabid fans. In fact, Berlin seems to have aspired to--or been interested in--little else. To his credit, he is frank about his life, philosophy and pursuits and he does not shy from the ravages of age. But his sneering comments about the world being "boring" are thuddingly ironic, since he is scarcely touched by anything that does not revolve around himself--the one exception being his apparent loyalty to a live-in companion who eventually died of AIDS. Owing to his brazen self-absorption, he emerges HIV-negative.
All told, neither art (that does not involve him), people, history, culture, nor work of any kind seems to rouse him. His vapidity is sometimes hard to take--especially given that he was a disturbing reminder of how "little one has to do" to become famous in America. Now in his sixties and virtually forgotten, Berlin appears to be resigned to his fate, which has the pungent whiff of poetic justice. Summed up, Peter Berlin remains a hermetically-sealed footnote to the so-called gilded age of American gay history. I would recommend this documentary to hard-core fans. The remotely curious might find it amusing for the bizarre spectacle it provides.
Description of That Man: Peter Berlin
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