A Bit Of Scarlet (1997)
A Bit of Scarlet excavates clips from Britain's cinema archives to create a moving and humorous testament to the closeted gay and lesbian images from filmmaking's earliest days.
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Wonderfully offbeat film!
Boring
What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Andrea Weiss has produced an extremely entertaining and empowering documentary of the queer side of British film history which compliments The Celluloid Closet beautifully (they were both works in progress, by pure coincidence, at the same time - but are very different in style and purpose). I interviewed Andrea when she was in town to present her film on 2nd August '97 at the Brisbane International Film Festival and she was deservedly proud of this feature, however she was shocked when the projectionist showed the last few reels out of order (that's one problem which cannot happen these days with digital projection). In November 2008 Andrea released a very good quality "burn on demand" DVD edition of "A Bit Of Scarlet" through Jezebel Productions and I loved viewing the entire film as Andrea intended.Ian McKellen's beautiful narration is a key element - and with Ian being a genuine veteran queer rights activist, there is no more eminently qualified actor for that role. "A Bit Of Scarlet" is a very welcome celebration and appreciation of queer identity in film (especially from the British viewpoint), rather than an attempt to define the history of that element.