Coming to DVD tomorrow, Friday, December 11: JOBRIATH AD
Kieran Turner’s portrait of a would-be glam rock star made its debut at the BFI London LGBT fest in 2012. Other screenings included Florida, Don’t Knock the Rock, Provincetown, Frameline, Outfest, and a host of other LGBT fests, including Seattle, Vancouver, Copenhagen, Portland, and Toronto. While previously only available in a deluxe edition with an accompanying LP, the DVD is now being released in a stand-alone version.
In the early 1970s, Jobriath was touted as the “next Bowie,” an heir apparent who pushed the theatricality of glam rock to the next level and who eschewed suggestions of hip bisexuality for unequivocal proclamations of an effeminate gay male sexuality. Partnered with Carly Simon’s former manager, Jerry Brandt, in a pseudo-Elvis and the Colonel arrangement, the young singer-songwriter secured a two-album deal with Elektra Records, the first such contract for an openly gay performer, and was at the center of an extensive media campaign that included a gigantic Times Square billboard, bus-side advertisements, and talk of an extravagant upcoming Paris Opera show. The only problem? Though receiving some good reviews, his album tanked. His contractual follow-up fared no better, and his rock star dreams faded, to be replaced, years later, with a go as a cabaret piano player and frustrated playwright, under the names Cole Berlin and Bryce Campbell before becoming part of the first wave of NYC gay men to die from AIDS-related complications. This intriguing excavation of pop culture history benefits from the presence of Brandt, who unconvincingly explains away every bad decision he made in Jobriath’s career, recounted by the performers friends, fellow performers, and family members, and by some creative animated sequences. Turner is somewhat hampered by a lack of much archival footage of Jobriath himself, and what is on display frankly doesn’t immediately convince the viewer that he actually was an unparalleled musical genius or performer – perhaps a simpler explanation for his failure to live up to his hype machine than what is otherwise offered here.
what (not) to doc 