This one falls into that darker corner of gay cinema. There was real potential buried in here, but the execution feels so flat that at points it plays out more like a filmed stage play than an actual movie. It's a dark psychological drama built around a street hustler confessing to a brutal, confusing murder of his own lover. Black and white flashback sequences do a solid job laying out the details of what happened, but the real focus stays on the dialogue and the writing itself. Right at the start, a young hustler has already killed his male lover Claude. Three days go by before he calls the police to turn himself in for the murder. But instead of just reporting it somewhere ordinary, he actually summons the police and the local press directly into a judge's private chambers. Yves has keys to the place, which tracks given what he does for a living, but having the press waiting right outside makes the whole scene look like some elaborate blackmail scheme against the judge. The ...
Club Pyramid used to be the biggest drag bar in town back in 80s. Wigstock was born when Lady Bunny decided to put on a show at sunrise mainly to show people that drag is perfectly suitable during the daylight as it is late at night. For some reason the festival ended in 2001, after it had grown bigger and better to a professionally-staged show. In 2018, Lady Bunny, along with Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, brought back Wigstock as a massive production on a rooftop at South Street Seaport’s Pier 17. Most of Lady Bunny’s contemporaries were there, as well as younger drag artists like Bobbie Hondo and folks like Charlene Incarnate, who is trans but definitely a modern drag queen.
Wig showcases the personalities and performances that influence the way that people understand queerness, art and identity in today's world. The film juxtaposes present-day footage with archival footage from previous editions of Wigstock and home videos. It charts the journey of drag which has gone from being clandestine to being part of mainstream pop culture. After the story of Wigstock, the final half hour or so is turned over to a concert video of the 8-hour festival. Personally, the only thing that I enjoyed was seeing archival footage of RuPaul and her performances considering how she is a pop culture phenomenon these days.
Wig is a fun film about how things have changed for drag performers since the early days of Wigstock. As much as I enjoy learning the history behind my community, this documentary somehow failed to keep my attention. (3/10)
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