n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The Celluloid Closet is well-put-together documentary style film that does an excellent job in revealing how homosexuals were portrayed in Hollywood. The narration, along with movie clips, served as both informative and entertaining; with a perfect balance. It was informative enough to be taken seriously, yet at the same time, entertaining enough that the documentary was interesting, if not fascinating.In terms of organization, the film is very orderly and sequential. It starts with the early 1900s and proceeds to move forward till the late 1900s. I must also compliment the way the movie effectively compares and contrasts portrayals of homosexuals in different time periods, allowing for a smooth and easy to follow transition.What I loved most about the film is that it also features the varying opinions of different actors (such as Tom Hanks, Whoopie Goldberg, Tony Curtis, and others). This gives a wider variety of insight than just your own thought on watching the small movie clips.Although I do recommend the film, I did hope to see more on how the movies mentioned in the film became accepted. Another complaint is that the film lacked information on the directors or actors that should be given credit for exposing queer films into the public (especially during the early-mid 1900s when homosexuality wasn't socially acceptable). Overall, this is a great documentary for any gender or sex, whether you're homosexual or heterosexual.

"The Celluloid Closet" was an overall great documentary on how homosexuality has evolved in film over decades of movies. In the early 1930s the film explained how movies portray homosexuality to be humorous. The actors that played the gay role were called "Sissies" subliminally portraying to the audience that they are homosexuals.As the movie progressed it had displayed other aspects on how the community now pictured homosexuals. The "Hayes Code" was created to rate movies on how appropriate they were. The Catholic Church as well joined in the process of rating by evaluating certain films to see if the movie was "appropriate" by their religious standards. Films later depicted homosexuals as villains such as Dracula's sister forcing the main actress to undress in front of her. In Albert Hitchcock the two villain murderers were homosexuals as well. At a certain point in these movies they had many gay subliminal symbols that the censors did not understand. During the 40s queer film was progressing to different degree. "The Celluloid Closet" explained that seeming gay was almost as bad as being gay. There would be films that would criticize a character for walking a certain way or even saying certain words. The screenwriter of Rebel without a cause stated that he would make the main character to be displayed as a gay outcast if it were during the millennium time period. In the 50's and 60's many characters of films were obviously gay. The first film to admit the homosexual intention was "The Victim" in 1961. Although there was a steadily progress of queer film, homosexuality was then presented as a crime. In the queer films the gay character would end up dying whether it be by a hero slaying the homosexual, or they became depressed and committed suicide. Queer film over the last four decades has evolved from a mental illness to being presented a sign of affection and love. Now in the 20th century queer film is accepted in the theaters almost everywhere in the nation.

The Celluloid Closet is a documentary that focuses on Hollywood's evolution of queer film from the 1920's until the mid-1990's. The documentary's use of clips from complements clips from interviews of screenwriters and actors to show the chronology of not only queers and queer film, but also of censorship in Hollywood. The film also emphasizes how society's view of homosexuals shaped queer film. The film discusses how not only Hollywood's views of homosexuality have developed and shaped throughout the decades, but also all of America's (i.e. how all gay men were effeminate, and all lesbians were masculine). Screenwriters and actors further discuss how the Catholic Church became very involved in cinema and influenced the institution of the Hays Codes for censorship. The film emphasizes how screenwriters were able to avoid this censorship through connotations and subtleties; however, they still had to please the Church by portraying homosexuals as victims or villains to show that there was no happy ending for them. However, by the late 70's onward, depictions of homosexuality on screen became more positive as the Gay Rights Movement started in the United States, creating new norms and shaping more positive views of homosexuality in individuals.The Celluloid Closet gives an excellent history and analysis of queer film and how influential Hollywood can be. It was interesting to see how many old Hollywood films were considered part of queer cinema—such as Rebel Without a Cause, The Maltese Falcon, and Rebecca. It was truly enlightening, and it expanded my scope of queer film. The Celluloid Closet is highly recommended to watch, for it sheds a new light for watching films, old and new, and for how to pick up different themes and subtleties to bring a deeper appreciation for "just watching a movie."

The docufilm, The Celluloid Closet (1995) is enlightening on several levels. It has illustrated how film can be re-interpreted. In this case a few references have re-interpreted carefully selected film clips as a subtext of homosexuality. This is a retrospective prism from the perspective of a homosexual audience. This revised perspective of film becomes the premise from which to forge a tool to critique English speaking cinema, primarily that of the Hollywood variety. In other words the issue of 'homosexuality' is utilised in order to highlight the power of Hollywood and its conservative bent (pun not intended) on morals and values. The set of values are a reflection of public morality throughout the ages. This perception of morality by the audience is a further reflection of the contested and contrasting ideas of ideals between conservative and liberal factions. This is reflected as an ever shifting attitude by Hollywood's toward homosexuality, thereby exacerbating the public's confusion of morality.On closer examination this confusion is explained less by whether homosexuality should be referenced on film, but more about how it should be portrayed and interpreted. Where the stereotyped 'pansy' has been portrayed by film makers and promoters as none-threatening as it's more palatable, the actual practise of homosexual sex acts within film, is pushing the boundaries in order to force the audience to question their own values. Ironically, this forces an almost inverse immorality where the film makers portraying homosexual acts are moral whilst the audience are made to feel unethical even for questioning whether this is acceptable causing a collective, guilt trip among the latter.This 'guilt trip' of the film audience has been averted by the Conservative rulers of morality, which frees the public of their obligation towards shaping morality democratically. These conservative moral formers manifested themselves via the likes of the Hays' Code which actually permitted audiences to view films without moral obligations. At this point film became conceived as merely entertaining, rather than an artistic medium to challenge perceptions of morality.Conversly the Hays' code gave artistic license to creative film makers and actors to introduce subtexts into the plots. As such,The Hay's Code was an involuntary contributor to creative film makers who utilised the 'subtext' as a tool for the re-interpretation by differing audiences. The question is were these subtexts introduced to bypass the Hays' Code, challenge it, or an excuse for to advance the ego of the film maker, thereby promoting her or his credentials as an artist? The docufilm is after all a showcase of talented editing! Paradoxically, where the Hay's Code alleviated audiences of moral obligations, it awakened the conscience of some who became post modern moral leaders. These new moral leaders insist their interpretation of film is superior based solely on the fact that they assert that they can see what others can't. As such, these interpretations of film merely serve as instruments to promote a sense (as opposed to actual) authority to certain post modern commentators. Many of these commentators infer that Hollywood is a conspiratorial medium to cause an unthinking, unconscious, naive audience. Rather the post modern idealists who pride themselves on their advocacy of the individual who thinks for her or himself have hijacked film in an artistic coup for their own agenda.In sum, the celluloid closet is a most enlightening, informative docufilm. Highly recommended.