Cruising

Let me start by saying I am not a film critic! I have never written a movie review before! This is also the first time I’ve ever seen this movie, so please heed my naivety. This movie is really something. It’s an incredibly nuanced take on the gay scene in the 70s & 80s with a harsh (but accurate) portrayal of the New York Police department. For sure a hard watch but well worth it. I can understand the backlash and controversy behind its original release and while I do agree to some extent that the message can be seen in the wrong light I think the intentions run far deeper than that. What people need to realize is that this film isn’t a tell all about every gay person and every gay community, it’s a snapshot into the s/m scene of NY during the 1970s/80s. Things were not sunshine and rainbows believe it or not. Good things were possible and good things happened, but that simply is not what the movie is about. As far as the aspects of the film I enjoyed, I believe the cinematography was excellently vague yet crystal clear. You weren’t sure exactly what was truly happened and yet you knew exactly what happened, that being the exact thing you didn’t want to happen. You don’t want to know if Steve really did it even though you know damn well that’s exactly what happened. I also think the mirroring of Steve and Stuart during their fight is genius. The way Stuart holds back like Steve once did and how Steve is now the violent and pushy man. I mean cmon, they’re wearing the same clothing for gods sake. Anyhow, believe me when I say I am not a fan of open endings, but in this case there isn’t an ending I would have preferred. I think it’s the perfect vague and disturbing way to end a vague and disturbing film. I’m not saying the film is perfect mind you. I think Steve’s character development was a bit rushed at the end and I would have liked to see a bit more into his thoughts. Giving us a reason to believe he’s gone and done something like that. I do think the detail of him striking the killer first was an excellent play and I really wished we had seen more things like that from him earlier on. How can he go from almost quitting due to what the other policemen did to that waiter to doing the exact same thing himself? I don’t quite understand his reasoning behind killing Ted yet, I’ll try and look further into it on my next watch. (That isn’t to mean I don’t understand his set up for it yeah yeah he starts a fight between ted n his roommate wtvr). I’m gonna wrap this up because I feel i’ve gone on a lot of tangents now so please excuse me. I think this film is an honest portrayal of how systems like these, both the gay scene of the 70s/80s and the police force alike, forcibly turn good and trusting individuals into situations that can either make or break them. For Skip, he was broken, and in Stuart’s case, he was made into a killer. In Steve’s case, he was broken and turned into the killer he once sought to bring to justice. Also Al Pacino is sooooo fiiiine!