What a beautiful movie!

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Homophobia has always been the first obstacle for many persons to enter the world of "gay icon" Peter Berlin, and now it has the same effect on common viewers to watch -not to mention appreciate- the documentary "That Man: Peter Berlin". Second, the perception of what Polish-born baron Armin von Hoyningen-Huene did to himself in the 1970s (that is, creating a character called Peter Berlin, becoming a fixed figure in the streets of San Francisco and taking himself many erotic photographs, among other things) as the sole effect of narcissism or exhibitionism, can also dissuade many to watch this motion picture. Surprisingly, Berlin emerges as all that and as someone more interesting, a richer personality and a complex character. I belong to a generation after his, but I had the opportunity to live the moment when Peter Berlin became a sensation among homosexuals (mostly in the Occident and in the North hemisphere), a historic moment when the fight for the civil rights of all of us who had sexual orientations different from the "official behavior" became more radical, and helped us to define what fronts of our existences needed strategies of defense. In that context Berlin made himself an object of conceptual art, if you will, a performing artist of the notion of sexual desire as an act of observation rather than interaction in "events" (although he had his share of those activities through his pornographic films, and his encounters through his intense social life). Today he declares that he became a sort of abstemious sensual machine that rarely had sex with anyone, and preferred to have permanent relationships. For someone who was not only extremely handsome when free from the demands of his Berlin character, but also successful, travelled and sought after by Richards, Warhol, Mapplethorpe and other avant-garde artists, it is quite moving to hear him talk about the painful aspects of his life, about his difficult journey, from the loss of his father in II World War to the struggles in post-war Europe, the abuse of substances of all kinds, and the disappearance of many friends, including two partners. Although this may seem a bit frivolous on my part, I need to comment that I found strange and rare that most of the times director Jim Tushinski deliberately abstained from exposing Peter Berlin's bare penis, which was copiously displayed in his photographs and --apart from his brain—was the actor's most prominent "source of inspiration" in his work. Otherwise, "That Man: Peter Berlin" is a fine work, a testament of one exhilarating time in the evolution of sexual mores and of one of its more prominent figures.

If you don't like self-absorbed crazy people, this film isn't for you. You should probably also avoid moving to San Francisco, because he's not really that unusual by SF standards. I remember seeing him standing around in the Castro (at Hibernia Beach!) in the seventies. Even though it was an era of sexual freedom that we can barely conceive now, seeing him was shocking. The film doesn't really convey what it was like to see this caricature of male sex in his see-through pants with enormous basket on display. The first time that I saw him, I just kept thinking, "Isn't he going to be arrested?". Later that evening, I had other thoughts. I had no idea who he was until this movie came out, but that image is still burned into my brain. It was transfixing, and this film is a nostalgic look at the era that made him an icon.

It doesn't matter if you are gay, straight, male, or female, or any combination of the above. You will find the images of the young Peter Berlin arresting, and the story of this in-your-face 70's sexual icon by turns funny, ironic, and mournful. We hear from John Waters, Armistead Maupin and others who knew of Peter in his prime, and from Peter Berlin himself, now in his 60's. What is it like to live your life as an object of desire? The answers are not always what we might expect. The film explores questions of voyeurism - why are we so entranced by the beautiful - narcissism, fame, and age. A visually compelling film that combines social history with personal story, and leaves you with much to think about. Top quality film-making.

A provocative and thoughtful profile of the man both behind the camera lens and in front of it. Peter Berlin's iconic status as a photographer, fashion designer and his subject are juxtaposed with interviews with the famous, if reclusive, star. Well-chosen and articulate "talking heads" astutely contextualize the importance of Peter Berlin's seminal role in gay male porn. By turns graphic, poignant, and humorous, the film brilliantly captures the relative innocence of a lost eroticism as it follows Berlin from his European beginnings to his present life in San Francisco. This is a very welcome addition to the historical documentation of the erotic lives of gay men.