Cruising - Al Pacino

(aka 'William Friedkin's Cruising')

Directed by William Friedkin
USA 1980

Cruising has a special niche in gay history as the queer equivalent of Birth of a Nation — a film in which an artist outside a subculture creates what appears to be a disturbingly negative, ill-informed portrait of that subculture. Since D. W. Griffith has been dead for almost 50 years, we have no way of knowing how he might react to the controversy that still surrounds Birth of a Nation. Friedkin, on the other hand, was violently attacked (verbally) by the gay press for supposedly equating homosex with murder, to the extent that Cruising was re-edited into near-incomprehensibility and prefaced by a groveling statement that "The film is not intended as an indictment of the homosexual world. It is set in one small segment of that world which is not meant to be representative of the whole."

Today, fifteen years later, looking at Cruising far from the reactions of the time, one wonders what all the fuss was about. For the handful of readers who don't know this film, a quick synopsis.

Al Pacino is a naive policeman assigned to go undercover into New York's s&m demi-monde to find a man who haunts the bars, peepshows, and cruising areas of Central Park, picks up unsuspecting gay men, and ritually kills them. Friedkin shows us the killings in graphic detail, always punctuated by the killer's puzzling phrase, "You made me do that." As Pacino moves deeper into this world, he becomes nervous and overwrought, his relationship with his girlfriend (Karen Allen) disintegrates, he learns the significance of colored hankies, and he becomes friendly with — and jealous over — a non-s&m gay man named Ted, an aspiring playwright. With the help of his cynical boss (Paul Sorvino), Pacino eventually lures the killer into a tryst and stabs him when the killer moves against him. Pacino returns — seemingly refreshed — from the "netherworld" to his girlfriend, but a disturbing event occurs: Pacino's friend Ted is brutally murdered. The film leaves open the possibility that Pacino, tainted by his contact with the s&m world, is actually Ted's killer.

Excerpt from Gary Morris' review at Bright Lights Big City HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 8th, 1980

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Runtime	1:41:40
Video	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.29 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), DUB: Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French , None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by director William Friedkin • Featurette: The History of Cruising • Featurette: Exorcising Cruising • Theatrical trailer DVD Release Date: September 18th, 2007 Keep Case Chapters: 25

Comments:

In regards to the image - I don't know that I can add much more than simply viewing the screen captures below. Black levels are pitch (almost approaching edge enhancement - but if existing at all it is very minor) and the progressive, dual-layered and anamorphic image has decent detail. In fact I suspect the film looked almost exactly as it appears on this DVD - a shade gritty and darkish. Once we venture beyond the caverns of darkness that frequently atmosphere the film, colors seem quite true and unmanipulated. I'm unsure but it would seem highly unlikely that the 5.1 audio is original but even as a bump it sounded buoyant and quite strong for dialogue etc. - there is a Spanish mono DUB offered. There are optional English, French or Spanish subtitles supporting the audio.

Supplements include a very good commentary by director Friedkin. He doesn't over-do the narration (although he does a fair bit) and brings up extensive details probably unknown to many excepting the producers of the film. He talks about the actual historical events behind the plot. He is good to listen to, his memory is sharp, and he has a kind of controlled enthusiasm in his voice. I enjoyed it very much. There are also two 20 minute featurettes on the 'Making of...' probably divided into individual parts to avoid the legalities of payment of the participants - dependant on the running length of the piece. Input is included from many associated with the production - certainly far better than the usual fluff we tend to get.

Overall, I have wanted to re-watch this film for about 20 years and assumed there was some reason beyond my knowledge as to why it remained so clandestine. Although some claim it has exploitive elements, which are actually far more tame nowadays, Cruising has some intensely suspense moments and I again found it very enjoyable with strong performances - super value for the price.

Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus