Pissoir (1988)
- Directed by
- John Greyson
- Genre
- drama film, LGBTQ-related film
- Country
- Canada
- Runtime
- 1h 38m
- Rating
- 4.3 of 10 from 7 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
An unnamed man asks dead artists and writers for advice on how to respond to police raids on gay sex venues in Toronto. The film mixes fictional scenes with real documentary clips about civil liberties and public morality.
thoughtfulpoliticalcerebralexperimentalpoignantstylizedearnestinventive
What happens
Pissoir, retitled Urinal in some countries, was the first feature film directed and released by John Greyson. Released in 1988, the film's central character is an unnamed man who conjures a circle of dead literary and artistic figures, including Sergei Eisenstein, Dorian Gray, Yukio Mishima, Frida Kahlo, and Langston Hughes, to help him formulate a response to police crackdowns on gay sex venues in Toronto, blending fiction with documentary as Greyson also includes quotes from real Canadian journalistic and political figures, including Barbara Amiel and Svend Robinson, about civil liberties and public morality. The film's cast includes Paul Bettis, Pauline Carey, Lance Eng, and Olivia Rojas. The film premiered at the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival. It was subsequently screened at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival in 1989, where it won a Teddy Award for Best Essay Film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Boy, Girl (1987)
Straight for the Heart (1988)
The Everlasting Secret Family (1988)
Fun Down There (1988)
The Fruit Machine (1988)
The Grace of God (1998)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Bruce and Pepper Wayne Gacy's Home Movies (1988)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.