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Stonewall (film)
Encyclopedia
Stonewall is a 1995
historical comedy
-drama
film
. Inspired by the memoir
of the same title by openly gay
historian Martin Duberman
, Stonewall is a fictionalized account of the weeks leading up to the Stonewall riots
, a seminal event in the modern American gay rights movement. Stonewall was the final film of British
film director
Nigel Finch, who died of an AIDS
-related illness shortly after completing filming.
Stonewall stars Guillermo Díaz, Frederick Weller, Duane Boutte and Brendan Corbalis. Dwight Ewell
and Luis Guzmán
also make cameos.
While the film is a work of fiction, Finch makes the unusual directorial choice of including documentary
-style interview footage with several people who were at the Stonewall Inn
during the uprising. Finch also intersperses lip synch numbers performed by the actors throughout the film to function as something of a Greek chorus
.
The film has now been made into a stage play by Rikki Beadle-Blair
and premiered in London and The Edinburgh Festival in 2007.
by bus and immediately heads for Greenwich Village
. There he falls in with drag queen
La Miranda (Díaz) and friends, who take him to the Stonewall Inn. There is a police raid and Mattie and La Miranda are arrested.
They are bailed out by Bostonia (Boutte), who is the African-American "mother" of the family of queens who hang out at the Stonewall. Bostonia is the secret lover of Vinnie (Bruce MacVittie), the deeply closet
ed mafioso
who runs the Stonewall. Matty and La Miranda go back to La Miranda's place where she receives her draft notice. They talk all night until Matty leaves to attend a meeting of the Mattachine Society
, where he meets Burt (Peter Ratray) and Ethan (Corbalis), who he'd bumped into the night before while Ethan was distributing leaflets. The group is planning a picket at Independence Hall in Philadelphia
. Ethan and Matty spend some time together after the meeting until Matty goes to meet La Miranda. They witness an initiation of sorts as a young man named José becomes the drag queen Camelia. After the ceremony they return to La Miranda's place and make love.
Matty Dean spends more time with Ethan, who is a writer under a pseudonym
for a homophile
magazine. They flirt and become infatuated.
La Miranda reports to the induction center in full drag and is ordered to go for psychological evaluation
. La Miranda is terrified because of former bad experiences with psychiatrists, so Matty dons her clothes and meets with the doctor in her place, securing a rejection from military service for her as a "sexual deviant." On the subway ride home Matty tells La Miranda he loves her.
At a Mattachine meeting, Matty is disgusted by the guest speaker, a psychiatrist
who discourses on the then-current disease model of homosexuality
, and leaves. After the meeting Burt, Ethan and Matty argue about it on their way to meet with a reporter and photographer from the Village Voice newspaper. The group stages a "sip-in," trying to illustrate discriminatory alcohol service laws by being refused service but no one refuses to serve them until they go to the Stonewall. At the bar La Miranda and Ethan meet and Ethan treats her mockingly. La Miranda realizes that Matty hasn't told his Mattachine friends about her and storms out. Matty follows and they argue about La Miranda's refusal to conform and Matty's feeling the need to be with more masculine men. Matty seeks out Ethan and they begin an affair.
Vinnie takes Bostonia to an isolated rooftop. He points out a clinic he calls the "Palace of Dreams" and tells her that he wants her to have sex reassignment surgery
so that they can marry. Bostonia is vehemently opposed to this, declaring herself to be "a chick with a dick who ain't done with her dick yet." Vinnie is miserable and Bostonia reaches to comfort him, but Vinnie is terrified that someone will spot them through one of the distant windows.
Following the Philadelphia picket, Ethan takes Matty to Fire Island
, which Ethan describes as "heaven." "Heaven" includes such repressive features as men not being allowed to dance face-to-face, not being allowed to dance at all unless there's a woman on the dance floor and police performing random beach checks for "suggestive" bathing costumes. Given the choice between Ethan's acceptance of that sort of discrimination and La Miranda's defiance, Matty chooses La Miranda and they reconcile.
It is the day of Judy Garland's
death. Bostonia watches the television coverage, very depressed. To cheer her up, Vinnie takes her out in full drag in public for the first time. They have ice cream at a fancy restaurant, their open affection drawing disapproving stares from the other patrons, until asked to leave by the manager.
As they wake up together the next morning, Vinnie asks Bostonia if he's ever told her that he loves her. She says no. Vinnie suddenly commits suicide with a bullet through the head and Bostonia becomes hysterical. Vinnie has left her a large amount of cash and scrawled "I LOVE YOU" on a mirror in lipstick.
That night at the Stonewall there's another raid. Several of the queens are arrested, including Bostonia. As she's led out, the arresting officer says "Poor little faggot don't know whether to kill me or kiss me." Bostonia smashes him in the face, saying "I guess I made up my mind." She is attacked by other cops and other queens fight back, touching off the riots that would mark the beginning of the gay community's advocacy movement for its rights.
1995 in film
-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
historical comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
-drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. Inspired by the memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
of the same title by openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
historian Martin Duberman
Martin Duberman
Martin Bauml Duberman is an American historian, playwright, and gay-rights activist. He is Professor of History Emeritus at Lehman College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York and was the founder of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate School...
, Stonewall is a fictionalized account of the weeks leading up to the Stonewall riots
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
, a seminal event in the modern American gay rights movement. Stonewall was the final film of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Nigel Finch, who died of an AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related illness shortly after completing filming.
Stonewall stars Guillermo Díaz, Frederick Weller, Duane Boutte and Brendan Corbalis. Dwight Ewell
Dwight Ewell
-Career:Ewell was born in Williamston, North Carolina to teenage parents. His father fought in Vietnam and served six years in the United States military while Dwight's mother took care of Dwight and his younger sister. Unhappy in her marriage, at 21 years old, Dwight's mom took the children up...
and Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
also make cameos.
While the film is a work of fiction, Finch makes the unusual directorial choice of including documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
-style interview footage with several people who were at the Stonewall Inn
Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall is an American bar in New York City and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United...
during the uprising. Finch also intersperses lip synch numbers performed by the actors throughout the film to function as something of a Greek chorus
Greek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
.
The film has now been made into a stage play by Rikki Beadle-Blair
Rikki Beadle-Blair
Rikki Beadle-Blair was born in July 1961, in Camberwell and raised in Bermondsey, both in south London. He is a British actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, singer, aerobics teacher, designer, choreographer/dancer and songwriter of West Indian origin....
and premiered in London and The Edinburgh Festival in 2007.
Plot summary
Matty Dean (Weller), a young gay man, arrives in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by bus and immediately heads for Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. There he falls in with drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
La Miranda (Díaz) and friends, who take him to the Stonewall Inn. There is a police raid and Mattie and La Miranda are arrested.
They are bailed out by Bostonia (Boutte), who is the African-American "mother" of the family of queens who hang out at the Stonewall. Bostonia is the secret lover of Vinnie (Bruce MacVittie), the deeply closet
Closet
A closet is a small and enclosed space, a cabinet, or a cupboard in a house or building used for general storage or hanging clothes. A closet for food storage is usually referred to as a pantry...
ed mafioso
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
who runs the Stonewall. Matty and La Miranda go back to La Miranda's place where she receives her draft notice. They talk all night until Matty leaves to attend a meeting of the Mattachine Society
Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
, where he meets Burt (Peter Ratray) and Ethan (Corbalis), who he'd bumped into the night before while Ethan was distributing leaflets. The group is planning a picket at Independence Hall in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Ethan and Matty spend some time together after the meeting until Matty goes to meet La Miranda. They witness an initiation of sorts as a young man named José becomes the drag queen Camelia. After the ceremony they return to La Miranda's place and make love.
Matty Dean spends more time with Ethan, who is a writer under a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
for a homophile
Homophile
The word homophile is an alternative to the word for homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s....
magazine. They flirt and become infatuated.
La Miranda reports to the induction center in full drag and is ordered to go for psychological evaluation
Psychological evaluation
A psychological evaluation or mental examination is an examination into a person's mental health by a mental health professional such as a psychologist. A psychological evaluation may result in a diagnosis of a mental illness...
. La Miranda is terrified because of former bad experiences with psychiatrists, so Matty dons her clothes and meets with the doctor in her place, securing a rejection from military service for her as a "sexual deviant." On the subway ride home Matty tells La Miranda he loves her.
At a Mattachine meeting, Matty is disgusted by the guest speaker, a psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
who discourses on the then-current disease model of homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, and leaves. After the meeting Burt, Ethan and Matty argue about it on their way to meet with a reporter and photographer from the Village Voice newspaper. The group stages a "sip-in," trying to illustrate discriminatory alcohol service laws by being refused service but no one refuses to serve them until they go to the Stonewall. At the bar La Miranda and Ethan meet and Ethan treats her mockingly. La Miranda realizes that Matty hasn't told his Mattachine friends about her and storms out. Matty follows and they argue about La Miranda's refusal to conform and Matty's feeling the need to be with more masculine men. Matty seeks out Ethan and they begin an affair.
Vinnie takes Bostonia to an isolated rooftop. He points out a clinic he calls the "Palace of Dreams" and tells her that he wants her to have sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
so that they can marry. Bostonia is vehemently opposed to this, declaring herself to be "a chick with a dick who ain't done with her dick yet." Vinnie is miserable and Bostonia reaches to comfort him, but Vinnie is terrified that someone will spot them through one of the distant windows.
Following the Philadelphia picket, Ethan takes Matty to Fire Island
Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is one of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is approximately long and varies between broad. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It comprises a number of hamlets, census-designated places , and villages, all of which lie within the...
, which Ethan describes as "heaven." "Heaven" includes such repressive features as men not being allowed to dance face-to-face, not being allowed to dance at all unless there's a woman on the dance floor and police performing random beach checks for "suggestive" bathing costumes. Given the choice between Ethan's acceptance of that sort of discrimination and La Miranda's defiance, Matty chooses La Miranda and they reconcile.
It is the day of Judy Garland's
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
death. Bostonia watches the television coverage, very depressed. To cheer her up, Vinnie takes her out in full drag in public for the first time. They have ice cream at a fancy restaurant, their open affection drawing disapproving stares from the other patrons, until asked to leave by the manager.
As they wake up together the next morning, Vinnie asks Bostonia if he's ever told her that he loves her. She says no. Vinnie suddenly commits suicide with a bullet through the head and Bostonia becomes hysterical. Vinnie has left her a large amount of cash and scrawled "I LOVE YOU" on a mirror in lipstick.
That night at the Stonewall there's another raid. Several of the queens are arrested, including Bostonia. As she's led out, the arresting officer says "Poor little faggot don't know whether to kill me or kiss me." Bostonia smashes him in the face, saying "I guess I made up my mind." She is attacked by other cops and other queens fight back, touching off the riots that would mark the beginning of the gay community's advocacy movement for its rights.
Cast
- Guillermo Díaz as La Miranda
- Frederick Weller as Matty Dean
- Brendan Corbalis as Ethan
- Duane Boutte as Bostonia
- Bruce MacVittie as Vinnie
- Peter Ratray as Burt
- Dwight EwellDwight Ewell-Career:Ewell was born in Williamston, North Carolina to teenage parents. His father fought in Vietnam and served six years in the United States military while Dwight's mother took care of Dwight and his younger sister. Unhappy in her marriage, at 21 years old, Dwight's mom took the children up...
as Helen Wheels - Matthew Faber as Mizz Moxie
- Michael McElroyMichael McElroy (actor)Michael McElroy is an American musical theatre actor, singer and music director.Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, McElroy moved to New York City in May 1990 after earning his BFA in Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University. He made his Broadway debut in The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club...
as Princess Ernestine - Luis GuzmánLuis GuzmánLuis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
as Vito - Joey DedioJoey DedioJoey Dedio is an American film, television, and theatre actor. He is also a producer and screenwriter.When he was young, Dedio appeared in the NBC soap opera Another World and the television version of The Karate Kid, as well as performing the voice of Wheeler in the environmentalist cartoon show,...
as Angelo - Candis CayneCandis CayneCandis Cayne is an American actress and performance artist.Known in the New York City nightclub scene since the 1990s, Cayne came to national attention in 2007 for portraying transgender mistress Carmelita on ABC's prime time drama Dirty Sexy Money...
as Diva - David Drumgold as Diva
- Keith Levy as Diva
- Robert Loudon - Stonewall Testimonial
- Bob Kobler - Stonewall Testimonial
- Queen Allyson Allante - Stonewall Testimonial
- Thomas Lanigan-SchmidtThomas Lanigan-SchmidtThomas Lanigan-Schmidt is an American artist who is also a veteran of the Stonewall riots.Lanigan-Schmidt's artwork incorporates materials such as tinsel, foil, cellophane, saran wrap and glitter, embracing kitsch and intentionally tacky....
- Stonewall Testimonial - Randy WickerRandy WickerRandolfe Hayden "Randy" Wicker is an American author, activist and blogger. After involvement in the early homophile and gay liberation movements, Wicker became active around the issue of human cloning....
- Stonewall Testimonial - Sascha Loren - Stonewall Testimonial
Factual inaccuracies
Although the film is based on true events, there are some factual inaccuracies. These include:- The sip-in did not include the Stonewall Inn as a stop. Service was refused at a bar called JuliusJulius (New York City)Julius is a tavern in the New York City Greenwich Village neighborhood. It is often called the oldest continuously operating gay bar in New York; however, its management was actively unwilling to operate as such and harassed gay customers until 1966...
. This action took place in 1966, not 1969. - The picket in Philadelphia, known as the Annual ReminderAnnual ReminderThe Annual Reminders were a series of early pickets organized by homophile organizations. The Reminder took place each July 4 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia beginning in 1965 and were among the earliest LGBT demonstrations in the United States...
, took place each July 4 from 1965 to 1969, later in the summer than depicted in the film. - Many of those in attendance at the riots deny categorically that Judy Garland's death was a motivating factor.
Soundtrack listing
- The Shangri-LasThe Shangri-LasThe Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember ".- Early career :...
– "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" - The Butterflies – "Gee Baby Gee"
- The Shangri-Las – "Sophisticated Boom"
- The ShirellesThe ShirellesThe Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
– "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" - The Shangri-Las – "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)"
- The Ad Libs – "Boy from New York City"
- Judy GarlandJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
– "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" - Patti LaBellePatti LaBellePatricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
and the BluebellesLabelleLabelle is an American all female singing group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the Philadelphia/Trenton areas, the Ordettes and the Del-Capris, forming as a new version of the former group, later changing...
– "Down the Aisle" - Bessie BanksBessie BanksBessie Banks is an American soul singer, best known for her original recording of the Moody Blues’ hit song "Go Now".-Life and career:...
– "Go Now" - Judy Garland – "Over the RainbowOver the Rainbow"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
" - Barenaked LadiesBarenaked LadiesBarenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
– "What a Good Boy" - The Shangri-Las – "Give Him a Great Big Kiss" (Hani's Kiss Mix)
Awards
- 1995 London Film FestivalLondon Film FestivalThe BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
- Audience Award - 1996 San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film FestivalFrameline Film FestivalFrameline is a nonprofit media arts organization that produces the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, the oldest film festival devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender programming currently in existence...
- Audience Award for Best Feature - 1996 OutfestOutfestOutfest is an LGBT-oriented film showcase and festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1982 as the "Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference", the name was changed to Outfest in 1994.-Programs:...
- Grand Jury Award Honorable Mention - Outstanding Screenwriting - Rikki Beadle-Blair