Paris Is Burning

Starring:Carmen and Brooke, Danny Xtravaganza, Bianca Xtravaganza, Willi Ninja, Octavia St. Laurent, Junior Labeija, Sandy Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Paris DuprÃ©e, Anji Xtravaganza, Shari Headley, AndrÃ© Christian, Sol Pendavis, David Ian Xtravaganza, Dorian Corey, Kim Pendavis, David Xtravaganza, Avis Pendavis, Venus Xtravaganza, David The Father Xtravaganza
Director: Jennie Livingston
Studio: Miramax
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
Paris Is Burning closes with two neon-lit boys holding each other on the streets of Harlem. One looks into the camera and asks, "So this is New York City and what the gay lifestyle is all about--right?" This documentary takes an honest, humorous, and surprisingly poignant peek into one of America's overlooked subcultures: the world of the urban drag queen. It's a parallel dimension of bizarre beauty, where "houses" vie like gangs for turf and reputation ... only instead of street-fighting, they vogue their way down makeshift catwalks in competitive "balls." The only rule of the ballroom: be real.

In surprisingly candid interviews, you discover the grace, strength, and humor it takes to be gay, black, and poor in a straight, rich, white world. You'll meet young transsexual "cover girls," street hustlers saving up for the big operation, and aging drag divas reminiscing about the bygone days of sequins, feathers, and Marilyn Monroe.

Amazon.com

This big-budget, star-studded epic 1966 French film features well-known actors from both Europe and America in the story of the final battles over the liberation of Paris at the end of the Second World War. Is Paris Burning? tells the story from all perspectives, from the Nazis to the French resistance, allowing for star turns and cameos from an illustrious group of actors, including Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless), Kirk Douglas (Spartacus), Orson Welles (The Third Man), Leslie Caron, Glenn Ford, Charles Boyer, Anthony Perkins, and many others. As the members of the resistance fight for control of the city, the Nazis order the commander in Paris (Gert Fröbe) to burn the city if the resistance gains the upper hand. Written for the screen by author Gore Vidal and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, director René Clément's film hearkens back to the star-filled epics of America's heyday while retaining a modern French sensibility. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

Lousy Movie.......2007-05-28

I must not have researched this movie enough before buying the DVD. I was immediately surprised by two things: (1) it's in black & white (the colored cover is deceiving) and (2) it is a French film that is mainly spoken in French although dubbed in English. The big problem with the movie, however, is that it just doesn't flow right. It bounces around too much and is not focused enough. It's just not very interesting, although it recovers some toward the end when the allies entered Paris. My 2-star rating is based on the interesting ending (it was 1-star up until then). I must say that the black & white nature of the film allowed the film-makers to blend in historical footage of Paris during that time period. Much of the ending, for instance, was historical footage of the victorious walk down the Champs-Elysees. It's a long movie, and the wait for the moving end wasn't worth it. I'll probably not watch this again.

Will Goldfinger burn Paris?.......2007-02-20

I fail to understand why a film company would go through the process of cleaning up a negative for DVD and not bother trying to source the original soundtrack for the same DVD. There must exist, somewhere, the original language soundtrack to "Is Paris Burning?" as least in some form. Even an original mono soundtrack included as a bonus would have done the trick.

As it stands, what we get looks like the version that was done a few years ago for the NTSC video release.

The film itself looks clean and clear and it's a nice enough anamorphic transfer. The dubbed soundtrack, for what it's worth is clear, but nothing spectacular. But after all it is a 1966 film. The major problem technically, is that it quickly becomes very irritating seeing all these actors performances reduced to a level of stupidity because their words don't match their mouth movements. Dubbing has never sat right on foreign films and this is no exception. It was and always will be a bad solution for idiots who cannot / will not read subtitles. It's never a good alternative. At least the Region 1 DVD has a French soundtrack. But then EVERYONE will speak French. The Region 2 version I watched didn't. Bizarrely, only Spanish and Italian were included!

The story itself concerns the German attempts to prepare to hold Paris in the face of overwhelming odds. As well as the advancing Allied armies, the Germans also have to deal with the various resistance groups that are building up in the City itself. The films portrayal of the Nationalist and Communist groups however is confused and disjointed. It looks like a deliberate attempt though to make it look like the resistance groups were essentially fighting for the same things...which historically was not correct. I also suspect the producers wished to tone down the Communist element, who were the new "bad guys" in the 1960's, so that the film would do better box office in the States. There are hints are the inter-group rivalry, but the viewer is left unclear why they exist. Either way, it is far more defined in the book that the film is based on.

Most of the performances are good and it's a joy to spot so many faces on the screen. Gert Frobe (ahem...Goldfinger) deserves special mention as General von Choltitz, the Paris Garrison commander. He has the dubious decision of choosing to carry out the Fuhrer's order to "destroy Paris" or to leave the City intact. Historically, of course, it would have been an absolute impossibility for the German's to destroy the city given the parameters involved, but the choice to obey or disobey still remained.

There are a number of cameos too from US stars, such as Anthony Perkins and Glenn Ford, but this really is a film about the French during the end of the Paris occupation.

As a whole it isn't a bad film, but isn't really a good film either. I felt somewhat empty at the end and disappointed too with some un-necessary bog standard "evil German" representations. In the main though, the German's are presented as human. The French are presented as nothing but heroic and noble, which is to be expected, I suppose, but I would have liked to have seen more of the inter- group rivalry that took place in reality. The "good guy/bad guy" polemic just doesn't cut it for a cynical post-Vietnam/Iraq audience anymore.

I can't really recommend "Is Paris Burning" in this format to be honest, but if you don't mind dubbing, sometimes confusing plot structure and a near 3 hour running time, then you may enjoy it. A version with the original French, German and English soundtrack would have been a winner, but the producers missed the boat on that one.

Bottom line is rent instead of buy.

Hollywood missed the point.......2007-01-10

Hollywood took this incredible novel of courage and cunning and turned it into a war epic filled with famous stars who appear for a minute or two only. In the waning days of World War II, Hitler ordered the total destruction of Paris. His general in command of Paris did as little as possible to carry out this order, even advised the allies that they would be welcomed with token resistance. Direct orders to the Luftwaffe to bomb Paris were ignored as well. There was an incredible spontaneous disregard of the Fuhrer's plans to destroy Paris. And when the Allies refused to march to Paris, the French Army left for Paris against orders in the dead of night, forcing Patton to race after them. Apparently, this fantastic story was too dull for Gore Vidal and a young Francis Ford Coppola, who opted instead to write a two dimensional war story about how the Americans and British bailed out the French resistance. Read the book!

Burned by boredom........2006-12-07

This is an amazingly flat piece of propaganda, perhaps government-sponsored, to depict the events in the most flattering way for the French. As usual, a Jewish question is totally omitted while depicting the horrors of Nazi occupation of Paris, as the issue has never existed. I doubt one can speak truth about the war time in France ignoring this part of history. And then, as the movie proceeds, it feels more and more as a farce. The star-studded cast, acting poorly, only contributes to the overall grotesque impression on this film, which begings to feel as a play at puppet theater or a parody, and the music that is clearly plagiarized from Shostakovich Symphony #5 Leningrad makes the final point - if Shostakovich music is truthful, serious and profound, this one is caricature, vaudeville-like and stupid.
I feel it is somewhat an insult to the true events and to those French resistance movement fighters who fought and sacrificed their lives for the liberation of their country.

Conscience and Concsientiousness.......2006-11-18

Based on the factual book of the same name, this film mixes acting with actual footage of the liberation of Paris.

A host of stars, among them Orson Wells, J P Belmondo and Gert Froebe, protrays the liberation of Paris based on the individual accounts of those involved in the forefront of all activity. Among them the story of General von Choltitz, his adjutant Count von Arnim, and of the Swedish consul, whose personal interventions ultimately saved the city and its inhabitants from the utter madness of destruction.

Shot in black and white, it makes fascinating viewing of aspects of life in those final hours of the liberation of Paris. Impressing is too that the German side is not portrayed with the customary 'evil' slant, but in a factual manner. This gives the film an edge over so many others.

Average customer rating:

Eye Opening, Sad, Hilarious, and Not Long Enough!
Fascinating and disturbing.
IT'S IN LETTERBOX, and it's good
FUNNY AND SAD DOCUMENTARY
rm

Paris Is Burning
Starring: Anji Xtravaganza , Shari Headley , André Christian , Carmen and Brooke , and Danny Xtravaganza
Director: Jennie Livingston
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( P ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0009UZGM8
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Amazon.com essential video

Paris Is Burning closes with two neon-lit boys holding each other on the streets of Harlem. One looks into the camera and asks, "So this is New York City and what the gay lifestyle is all about--right?" This documentary takes an honest, humorous, and surprisingly poignant peek into one of America's overlooked subcultures: the world of the urban drag queen. It's a parallel dimension of bizarre beauty, where "houses" vie like gangs for turf and reputation ... only instead of street-fighting, they vogue their way down makeshift catwalks in competitive "balls." The only rule of the ballroom: be real.

Amazon.com

Fascinating, discomfiting, and poignant (sometimes all at once), Paris Is Burning documents New York City's recherché "ball" circuit, where members of the black and Latino gay, transvestite, and transsexual communities compete to see who can wear the most outlandish outfits and dance, pose, and generally show off to most outrageous effect. These are folks who live with a double whammy of discrimination, as they are minorities both sexually and racially. But while their tales of rejection by both society and their own families are woeful and bitter, the participants come alive when they hit the "runway" (actually the floor of some old gymnasium) to strut their stuff, liberated from the pressure of blending in with the mainstream. "Whatever you want to be, you be," says one, whether it's a school kid, a country club polo player, a high-rent executive, a character from television's Dynasty (which for some represents the dernier cri in elegance and wealth)… anything goes. Along the way, we meet characters with names like Pepper Labeija, Venus Xtravaganza, and Willi Ninja; we also learn about "reading" (i.e., dissing your competitors), "shading" (a more subtle, non-verbal version of the same thing), and "voguing" (later adopted by Madonna, it combines the poses and haughty looks of your average supermodel). Critics at the time of the film's original 1990 release tended to focus on the sadness and not-so-quiet desperation of these people's efforts to transcend their circumstances and become one-night legends, but overall, Paris Is Burning comes across as simply a damn good time. --Sam Graham

Description

The award-winning PARIS IS BURNING has been igniting audiences and critics across the country and all over the world with record-breaking box office performances. An unblinking behind-the-scenes story of fashion-obsessed New Yorkers who created "voguing" and drag balls, and turned these raucous celebrations into a powerful expression of fierce personal pride. This world-within-a-world is instantly familiar, filled with ambitions, desires, and yearnings that reflect America itself. Paris Is Burning is an intimate portrait of one urban community, a world in which the allure of high fashion, status, and wealth becomes an affirmation of love, acceptance, and joy.

Customer Reviews:

Eye Opening, Sad, Hilarious, and Not Long Enough!.......2007-05-15

As you all know, I am a Madonna maniac and when her hit single "Vogue" came out in the early 1990s, I was curious about this "dance" that the future Mrs. Guy Ritchie was singing about. All fingers pointed to a documentary called "Paris Is Burning". While I never saw it in the theaters, I caught it on cable TV.

Now this movie is a revelation. While it does discuss what and how the dance Vogue came to be, it is really a documentary on a segment of the gay population, black and Hispanic transgender people, as well as transvestites and those taking the first steps into the opposite gender. This movie revealed to me things I didn't even know existed, such as the balls and the often bizarre categories the participants "walk" in and the concept of "Houses", each lead by a mother (and co-ruled sometimes with a father and the other are all "daughters").

As one reviewer said, a documentary like this could easily become a freak show. Yes, many of the people documented are freaky-looking when compared to so-called normal White Middle America, but thanks to participants such as Dorian Corey, Pepper Labeija, Octavia St. Laurent, Angi and Venus Xtravaganza, among others, you see that these people, despite their rather unusual way of life, have hopes, dreams and fears that everybody has (and being born White is not going to miraculously solve all your problems).

In any case, the commentary by Jennie Livingston, Willi Ninja, Freddie Pendavis (and the film editor whose name I forgot because of the quartet, he spoke the least) is worth listening to alone and often contains hilarious stories and recollections, such as what I called the "mannequin incident" with a certain ballwalker named Moldavia, the speculation on the mummified body that was eventually discovered in Dorian Corey's apartment, their reaction to the fate of Venus Xtravaganza, and which person profiled in the documentary are still with us today.

Also eye-opening are the so-called outtakes, extended scenes of the film that were edited out. These are particularly low in quality (looking like someone took a hand-held videocam and recorded it straight from a movie screen) but still riveting nonetheless. One especially startling (and funny) revelation is "The Other Side of House", in which Venus Xtravaganza looked straight into the camera and said "It is all bulls--t. It is all about a bunch of stupid trophies!".

Jennie Livingston revealed that they have tons and tons of footage stored in some archive somewhere. I wish they have done an extended cut of the film.

Fascinating and disturbing........2007-04-07

I saw this in 1990 in the theatre and rewatch it every year because of the unique people and infectious quotes. Love it!

IT'S IN LETTERBOX, and it's good.......2006-04-18

It's old, and so many of the people have died, but it's a great documentary.

It's also in letterbox, unlike what Amazon is stating it being in a pan-and-scan state.

mike

FUNNY AND SAD DOCUMENTARY.......2006-01-02

This is a sub-culture with a minority that I was previously unaware of. The movie is a time capsule of a certain time in a certain place with a particular and peculiar group of gay men and their hangers-on who primped and pranced for their own ideas of glamour and class and who are sometimes outrageous and unreal in their comments on society and the straight AND gay world of NYC.

Some of the performers came to a very sad and grissly deaths and it is a comment on society that those with so little and tried to get and give so much of their very limited means came to sometimes very sticky demises.

There is so much young life and potential wasted in these voguing balls that one can only hope that the phenomenon has been relegated to the pages of history.

The actors/performers/drag artists-artistes are sometimes extremely funny and trenchant in what they have to say and it is a movie that is sometimes hard to watch and at other times an absolute "hoot".

Not for the squeamish or the judgmental, this movie is a classic of its type and is not only entertainment but a sociological study of a minority within a minority.

Timothy Wingate OTTAWA CANADA

rm.......2005-12-06

With all the five stars having been given this movie, I expected much more. The packaging of the DVD gives a false impression (looks nice on the outside but inside mostly repackaged old stuff.) While the historical context of gay life is worthy of perhaps four stars, the feature itself rates less. It is short at seventy-six minutes. The picture quality for this overpriced DVD is poor. The outtakes are very poor. They appear to be copied from an old worn out VHS tape with no remastering. Don't expect much from this DVD.

Is Paris burning? / Paris Brule-y-il? / Gorit li Parizh?

Average customer rating:

Is Paris burning? / Paris Brule-y-il? / Gorit li Parizh?
Director: Rene Clement
Manufacturer: Film Prestige
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Geroicheskie sobytija avgusta 44-go, kogda Parizh byl osvobozhden ot nemcev, legli v osnovu jetogo monumental'nogo fil'ma, sobravshego luchshie kinematograficheskie sily so vsego mira. Rezhisser Rene Kleman (1913-1996) privlek k rabote nad kartinoj vydajuwihsja hudozhnikov, operatorov i akterov svoego vremeni. Muzyku napisal Moris ZHarr (trizhdy laureat "Oskara" - "Lourens Aravijskij", "Doktor ZHivago", "Puteshestvie v Indiju"), a v sozdanii scenarija prinimali uchastie znamenityj pisatel' Gor Vidal i nachinajuwij rezhisser Frjensis Ford Koppola... Gitler otdaet prikaz generalu fon Hol'ticu steret' Parizh s lica zemli. Velikij gorod dolzhen byt' zaminirovan i unichtozhen... Stremitel'nyj brosok bronetankovoj divizii generala Leklerka i reshitel'nost' rukovoditelej Soprotivlenija, organizovavshih Parizhskoe vosstanie, vo glave s buduwim Prem'er-ministrom Francii SHaban-Del'masom, spasli gorod i narushili chudoviwnye plany fashistov. 2 nominacii na Oscar - luchshie operator, hudozhniki po dekoracijam. Nominacija na "Zolotoj Globus" - luchshij kompozitor.

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