Last Call At Maud’s
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: D Documentary: B-
The Gay Rights Movement has been fighting an uphill battle
since the 1980s and for lesbians has been particularly troublesome. Yet, they have left a legacy and history,
even when they have not been totally successful in winning hard-fought-for
rights they deserve. Part of their
community is the uniqueness of their bars as social centers for gathering and
the San Francisco bar Maud’s is one of the biggest of them all. That is why it becomes a bittersweet moment
when it is scheduled to close. Paris
Poirier’s Last Call At Maud’s (1993) is about its shutdown in 1989.
We have seen stories about bars (gay and otherwise) close
before, but this 77 minutes long piece is about more than just another
business, but about a place that opened only a few years before the Christopher
Street Riots that changed the gay and lesbian community forever. Stretching all the way back to the 1940s to
tell its story and share the roots of the lesbian scene in 20th
Century America, close enough to remind us about the peak of German social
culture before the Nazis arrived, the 1989 shutdown just in itself speaks of
something bad on the horizon.
AIDS had already arrived for everyone, but The Republican
Reclamation had arrived for this community despite the likes of “Log Cabin
Republicans” and other “remarkable” entities.
The question here is that even if the building is gone, does its school
of thought and life continue in the best possible way? Is that enough to help a community keep
itself together? Is it enough to honor
the achievement? Like so many other
landmarks gone but not forgotten, the answer can be yes if what they really
represented is not forgotten. Having a
record like this really helps too, though it cannot replace the place or
place-ness of it all. Then survivors of
any holocaust know never to forget, especially one that goes on and on.
The 1.33 x 1 image was shot on tape and shows its age, but
is as good as it is going to get. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is barely stereo and certainly has no surrounds, but is
clear enough. The combination, crossed
with the authenticity of the final days of a place that was so important to
people who needed and deserved it, is has a look and feel like nothing else you
will ever see. There are no extras, but
Last Call At Maud’s is an important work all in itself that could not go
on long enough, especially for those who loved it so much.
- Nicholas Sheffo
