This is a documentary about a queer night club in Berlin in the 1920s before Hitler's rise to power. It is that, and so much more. The parallels to what happened then and what is beginning to happen in the 2020s in the United States are breathtaking. There were so many instances that they're too numerous to detail here. Suffice to say that if you are not in touch with the political climate in the U. S. now, and how it relates to 1920s and 30s Germany, this documentary is a roadmap to that reality.
Berlin in the 1920s was a time of free expression of ideas, and people had the freedom to be who they were, at least in places like the El Dorado. Homosexuality, transgenderism, or queer expression are NOT new things, and even 100 years ago were present in the culture, and seldom commented on.
I learned far more than just Germany's treatment of queer culture before and after Hitler. This is that, but it's also a warning that with what we are seeing now trying to come to power, could VERY easily lead to the kinds of persecutions seen in Nazi Germany. Since hyperbole is now dead and has been for a few years, literally anything could happen with the right fuses in place. The matches are ever-present. There is, I believe, more to the making and release of this documentary at this moment in time than the 100th anniversary of some of the events depicted in the film.
I don't normally find re-enactments compelling in documentaries like this, but their use here was warranted as it seems there was little historical footage from inside El Dorado. Otherwise, historical footage and modern-day interviews are used to great effect, mostly in English, but also some subtitled German. HIGHLY recommended and absolutely not just for a gay audience.
Also, happy 10th anniversary to Walter and Howard!
Berlin in the 1920s was a time of free expression of ideas, and people had the freedom to be who they were, at least in places like the El Dorado. Homosexuality, transgenderism, or queer expression are NOT new things, and even 100 years ago were present in the culture, and seldom commented on.
I learned far more than just Germany's treatment of queer culture before and after Hitler. This is that, but it's also a warning that with what we are seeing now trying to come to power, could VERY easily lead to the kinds of persecutions seen in Nazi Germany. Since hyperbole is now dead and has been for a few years, literally anything could happen with the right fuses in place. The matches are ever-present. There is, I believe, more to the making and release of this documentary at this moment in time than the 100th anniversary of some of the events depicted in the film.
I don't normally find re-enactments compelling in documentaries like this, but their use here was warranted as it seems there was little historical footage from inside El Dorado. Otherwise, historical footage and modern-day interviews are used to great effect, mostly in English, but also some subtitled German. HIGHLY recommended and absolutely not just for a gay audience.
Also, happy 10th anniversary to Walter and Howard!