'Cruising': Controversial, flawed film is ripe for rediscovery

Al Pacino in Cruising

William Friedkin's gay-themed crime melodrama Cruising is one of the most infamous films of the auteur-dominated period of the 1970s.

Released in 1980, it can be seen as something of a finale to a prolific era that saw the rise of film-making titans like Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, De Palma and Altman (just to name a few).

Friedkin has always been viewed as someone who had great promise but flamed out due to hubris and excess. He became a star with his one-two punch of critical and commercial hits: The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973).

And while Sorcerer (1977), his ambitious remake of The Wages of Fear (1953), flopped upon its initial release, it has since been rediscovered and re-evaluated, and is rightly viewed as one of the great, nail-biting thrillers of its day. Cruising, however is a different story.

Ostensibly a detective melodrama set in the seedy underworld of gay S&M bars, the Al Pacino vehicle was widely condemned as homophobic before it was even released and the production was plagued with protests and controversy. The movie never lived down its reputation and has for years been seen as low point in both Pacino and Friedkin's careers.

Time and distance have softened attitudes towards the film. Some of its most ardent critics now admit that, if nothing else, the film presents a fascinating time capsule of a pre-AIDS era in gay life in New York City. It's graphic depictions of gay sex acts (even fisting!) is shocking even by today's standards and the film is also simply gorgeous to look at.

The film also has its defenders. It certainly isn't anti-gay, even if it does present a very narrow and at times problematic view of gay life and ultimately, the movie doesn't dare dive fully into the psychological questions it raises, relying more on its procedural police plot whenever it threatens to get really interesting. That said, it's a very intriguing movie.

The lurid plot centers around a series of gruesome murders that appear to be perpetrated by a gay serial killer on other gay men. Pacino's character, a low key, shy cop named Steve Burns is recruited to go undercover essentially as bait because he fits the profile of the victims. Early on, there are moments that suggest the Burns is slightly off. He seems haunted and fairly rapidly he his forays into gay life seem to draw barely under-the-surface desires out of him. This is the most interesting part of the film but unfortunately the movie never quite goes far enough to illuminate his character's inner turmoil.

One of many evocative images in Cruising

And whenever the viewer starts to get the sense that perhaps the Pacino character is actually gay there is a quick obligatory love scene with his live-in girlfriend played by Karen Allen, who is a sketchily drawn character at best.

This is clearly a movie where quite a lot has been left on the cutting room floor.

Friedkin had to lose a lot of graphic sexual footage in order to avoid an X rating from censors. But it also seems like a lot of plot points and nuances have been lost in the editing process as well.

Sometimes, the murkiness is a positive for the film. For instance we see Pacino's character seem like he may indulge in a gay encounter and then we cut away. We never know if he actually is having sex with the men who approach him or not, and that ambiguity is compelling.

Later, we are led to think that Pacino's character may be committing the crimes himself -- which gives the movie an even more interesting depth because it seems to be more about the self-hatred of a closeted gay man as opposed to some sort of moralistic condemnation of the gay lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this is all staged too awkwardly to come together well enough for the film to be deemed anything close to a masterpiece. Still, it's a much more worthwhile film that it was originally perceived to be.

It features one of the quieter, more mysterious performances of Pacino's career and it has some pretty unforgettable, shocking and challenging moments in it. Few films would dare to open with a scene of NYPD officers forcing cross dressing prostitutes to perform sex acts on them.

On the other hand, while the movie does make earnest attempts to portray more humane and likable gay characters (particularly in the character of an affable neighbor of Burns), it also falls victim to some of the hopeless stereotyping of its time.

Cruising will probably never be remade, but it deserves to be re-seen.