Torch Song Trilogy

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Product Details

Director : Paul Bogart
Actor : Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein, Brian Kerwin, Karen Young
Format : NTSC
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 9786304077948
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 2000-05-30
Studio : Alliance (Universal)
UPC : 794043411038

ASIN : 6304077947

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

Harvey Fierstein had a smash hit on Broadway with the stage version of this story about a drag queen, but whatever the magic there was doesn't show up in this film adaptation. (Fierstein allegedly couldn't line up an A-list or even B-list director in 1988 to tackle the gay story line, so he agreed to work with Paul Bogart, a ubiquitous television director but an undistinguished feature filmmaker.) Fierstein's performance is fine, but likely a shadow of his live work, while Anne Bancroft is very strong in the role of his character's mother. Matthew Broderick went against the tide of fear shared by most Hollywood actors at the time about playing gay characters. The times have certainly changed since then. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

The best gay film of all time (2004-07-19)

Every person that I turn on to this movie absolutely loves it and eventually adds it to their dvd collections as a result. Even after watching TST many, many times (and believe it or not, it is playing now!) I still believe it is the very best gay themed movie of all time..and I have seen them all...Superb acting, laugh-out-loud funny and very touching...Bancroft and Fierstein shine!

If you are straight (or gay in some cases) and can't stand gay people, don't even bother renting or buying this film. But, regardless of your sexual orientation, if you are a mature, openminded person, and respect all people for who and what they are, you will enjoy it.

Get it. You'll love it!

Warm and Funny and Heartfelt (2004-07-16)

I gave this 5 stars based on its original release date. Yes, it is a bit dated now, but it really does not hurt the film if you look at it as a snapshot of the time. Fierstein is just wonderful. I dare you to not love Arnold by the end of this movie. He is warm, funny, sentimental, loyal, and kind - and still not sappy; an oddball hero that you can't stop hoping for. (ugh- preoposition). Broderick is charming and romantic as the knight in shining armor. Kerwin is heartbreaking and has some beautiful scenes to work with here. Bancroft is a force-of-nature and while she is sometimes over-the-top, she still remains very human. A comedy, semi-period piece, love story about family,blood or otherwise, and the things that bring us together and ultimately hold us together. Quite wonderful actually.

The No.1 Classic Gay Drama I have Ever Watched. (2004-07-15)

Finally, I have seen a gay movie which is not merely about the misery of being dumped by a gay lover or trying to come out in a family.

Torch Song Trilogy is a biographical work about the life of the protagonist drag queen, Arnold. The movie starts humourously with the mother's discovery of the son hiding in a closet and trying to beautifying himself with her make-up. The mother yelled, "What are you doing in the ---". Then the mother knew what was going on.

The movie can be basically divided into three parts (that's why it's titled trilogy) - his career as a professional drag queen (or politically correct - a female impersonator), during which he knew a bisexual man; his falling in love with a middle class boy who is still uncontaminated by the world. He, however, was sadly, killed by hateful discrimination. Finally, the movie has a touch of adopting a (gay) son and brings out the issue of gay parenting. The movie ends with a fight, not a reconciliation, between the mother and the gay son. Each part of the movie tells you the life and the bumpy road Arnold was living through at the moment. The movie does not depict it in a pitiful way, or else, it lets the plot bring out the emotio spontaneously to the audience. The dialogues are clever, symbolic and witty. The acting is professional and does not go over the top. The director deals with the fantastic scripts carefully and the final scene of Arnold holding the three most valuable things in his life in a chair is simply self-effacing.

Torch Song Trilogy is a gay classic drama. There is nothing pretentious. The movie does not ask for your pity for Arnold's tragic life, but your understanding of what he has been through.

Well ain't this a kick in the rubber parts?! (2004-07-13)

I love this film. I have ever since early 1989, when I first saw it in a theater back in Chicago (they wouldn't show this type of film out in the 'burbs back then, so I had to drive into the city). It was a must-have in my VHS collection, and it's a must-have now in my DVD collection.

The picture and sound quality are fantastic - BETTER than the VHS release, in fact. The cover art is identical to my old VHS copy, but that's a very minor issue. As for the buzzing sound that others reported hearing in the dressing room scenes of Act One, all I can say is that perhaps they're hearing the low hum of Arnold's make-up mirror lights. Who knows. It sounded great on my middle-of-the-road sound system, and I'm elated.

Listening to Harvey Fierstein's commentary, I was surprised to learn that the film didn't make much money after its initial release, despite the stage version's success on and off Broadway. I also had no idea that all the major players in this movie had appeared in the stage version at some point or another. Harvey also touched on how the AIDS crisis played a part in the history of this show (and why the dates of the action in this story were "fudged" to take place before AIDS even became an issue in gay life). So much information provided on this track was brand new to me. It was like getting a long-overdue lesson in gay history. I'm proud to have it in my collection.

Now if they'd only re-release the music soundtrack CD...

FAAABULOUS! (With 1 Minor Flaw) (2004-07-10)

I watched this movie at least 20 times on VHS. It was the very first gay-themed movie I'd seen and could not have been presented to me at a more important time in my life. I was 20 (I'm 32 now) and only a few weeks before I'd come out to my mother as Gay. Dealing with my mother's fears and still unable to tell my five older brothers or my father, I joined a Gay student group at my university. I was terrified because though I knew what was going on in my life, I had not yet met or knew anyone who was Gay. My first night with the student organization we got together at a young lesbian couple's home and watched "Harold And Maude" (a classic!) and "Torch Song Trilogy." The next day while describing Torch Song to my mother I burst into uncontrollable sobs. This was the first time my mother had seen me cry in years and she knew she had to watch this movie with me. I rented it and we watched it and my mother and I cried together - she knew what I was going through in a way I could never explain to her. This movie is an absolute MUST SEE. BTW, the minor flaw is that there is a very annoying buzzing during the initial monologue with Arnold and also during the conversation and monologue with Ed and Arnold in Arnold's dressing room. Otherwise the rest of the movie is a gem. Also, contrary to what another reviewer stated, I did NOT find a single scene edited from the DVD version that was in the original VHS version - the DVD copy is identical to the orginal down to the second - 121 minutes.

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