5/5 Remarkably potent portrait of a great gay icon.
  by caliboy (Santa Monica, CA)
This documentary focuses on a man who is narcissistic and self-indulgent. Peter Berlin is certainly that. But there is so much more to Peter Berlin. Peter ist kunst. (Peter is art.) And given that fact he warrants all of his self-indulgence and all of his narcissism. I saw the documentary today for the first time and I am still flying high because of it. One critique though - Peter states that he regrets not having done more with his life - I don't agree with this view - when one is art one needn't do more than be. Few of us can justify that. Peter does. Buy this terrific document!

5/5 An unforgettable person; so brilliant & iconic!
  by Randy E. Halford (Boise, ID)
Back in the 80's, I remember seeing photos of Peter Berlin. I was struck by how different he was from other performers. He went out of his way to stand out in the crowd, and he was keenly aware of how clothes (he chose the most skin-hugging/daring outfits) can actually enhance eroticism, as opposed to looking at the male form in full-on nudity.
As this fascinating documentary about a fascinating man states, Berlin was the ultimate artist, using himself as his own "canvas"...and he did so with striking effect. The face. The body. The clothes. Berlin helped define the 70's gay culture, combining faint androgony with masculinity.
The film explores all the facets of his life, while simultaneously displaying tons of photo stills of Berlin: His youth in Germany; his "awakening" in America under the persona of Peter Berlin; the two legendary films he made; his deeply touching 20-year friendship with James; surviving the AIDS crisis; and finally, growing old. For a man in his 60's, he looks almost the same as he did decades ago. Retaining much of his boyish looks, he's in such good shape that he can still wear those same daring outfits!
Chock full of interviews from others (including Berlin himself), this is an intriguing film about an iconic artist who virtually became "the Greta Garbo of porn". A must-see!

4/5 Who is Peter Berlin?
  by Gary F. Taylor (Biloxi, MS USA)
Peter Berlin was a star in the same sense that Edie Sedgewick and similar personalities were: they were extraordinarily famous within an extremely narrow subculture, but that fame did not translate to broader celebrity.

Born Armin Hagen Freiherr von Hoyningen-Huene in 1942 Germany, Belin trained as a photographer and wandered Europe for several years before arriving in San Francisco. There he tapped into the city's gay community and reinvented himself as a street icon, instantly recognizeable for his open shirts, obscenely tight pants, and Dutch-Boy haircut. In 1973 he starred in the X-rated KNIGHTS IN BLACK LEATHER; both the film and Berlin's poster design were widely known. A year later he starred in yet another X-rated film, THAT MAN; he made four short X-rated films; he was also the star of at least four X-rated "loops." Photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe, drawn by Tom of Finland, he was very much an "underground" star.

Berlin, however, had a bit more going for him than an attractive body and a willingness to display it. At some point Berlin began to do his own art work, most of which involved photographing himself in various stages of far-out attire. Although his work hardly places him in the same class as, say, Robert Mapplethorpe or Andy Warhol, it did achieve a following, and is still seen today in various exhibitions, collections, and displays. But time was against him: his favorite subject, his own body, passed its peak of perfection--and in the 1980s AIDS began to unravel the gay culture that had made his celebrity possible.

Created in 2005 by Jim Tushinski, THAT MAN: PETER BERLIN is a portrait of Berlin both then and now, featuring interviews with such notable gay men as John Waters and Armistead Maupin--but most particularly with Berlin himself, who emerges as an odd mixture of blankness, narcissim, and hard-core realist. Sometimes described by interview subjects as "Garbo-esque" for the distance he imposes between himself and others, Berlin now passes his days in casual obscurity, recognized occasionally on the streets by old fans, self-absorbed but far from self-pitying, still interested in the art for which he is his own canvass.

The DVD comes with a number of bonuses, most particularly the images created by Berlin, additional interview materials, and a director's commentary. Berlin's celebrity is very much of a certain place and time, and his personality is not easily evaluated--but he is indeed an icon on an era in the gay community, a brief window in time during which anything seemed possible in the city by the bay. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer



3/5 Portrait of a unique gay porn icon, our "Garbo" ...
  by Bob Lind (Phoenix, AZ United States)
Growing up gay in the 1970's, one could not help but be aware of the name, persona and photos of Peter Berlin, perhaps the most successful gay model/photographers of the past century. With his clean good looks, longish blonde cut, and defined body, always framed by a series of creative leather and other wardrobes, Berlin was an icon of that decade's gay porn, starring in self-produced vanity pieces like "Nights in Black Leather" and "That Boy" that had extended runs at the gay porn film houses of the time. He was unique at that time when gay society pretty much demanded the "clone look" (short hair, moustache, flannel shirt, jeans, boots), while his look was almost exactly the opposite. Information or interviews about him were few and far between, as the highly personal and reclusive Berlin limited access to get to know the "real" him, preferring to let his photos and people's imaginations carry him to fame.

Thirty years later, this 2005 documentary looks at Peter Berlin from his childhood to the present, getting additional perspectives from those who have known or interviewed him over the years, including author Armistead Maupin, producer/director Wakefield Poole, director John Waters, and fellow porn star Jack Wrangler. At least of the 80 minute running time consists of classic film shot during Berlin's prime, walking the streets of San Francisco, on photo shoots, doing his poses as "street art" in cruising areas, and scenes from his two feature films and several shorts. We learn about travels in Europe, his lifepartner of over 20 years, his friendship with Andy Warhol, and - though I found it hard to believe - the fact that he led a fairly celebate life in San Francisco. Peter gives a tour of his apartment, displays some of the souveniers of his career, and talks honestly about his motivations and influences over the years. It's an interesting look at a unique individual, kind of gay porn's answer to Garbo.

DVD has photo gallery, additional interview and director commentary. I give it three stars out of five.

5/5 Hot Narcissus Pre-Calvin Klein and Madonna
  by G. Charles Steiner (San Francisco)
This documentary was surprisingly tasteful, credible, and informative. Even though Peter Berlin represented 1970s "gutter" gay eroticism, the eroticism here is encased as a documentary about an erotic art form: Peter Berlin himself.

While Anais Nin made herself an icon by publishing her erotic diaries in the 1970s and then later her pornography in the early 1990s, and while Madonna in the Eighties was on a roll "re-inventing herself" and showing off her sexual attributes, and Calvin Klein was getting Brooke Shields to reveal her tush in jeans, Peter Berlin was the original progenitor of this Romantic and erotic enterprise: LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT MY BODY!

If only Peter Berlin had learned the business of advertising better than he did and with more ambition is what I felt by the end of the documentary. He could have really been a contender! Nonetheless, the documentary does an appealing job of making him an admirable object and subject of our attention.

It was appealing to learn that this Narcissus was not offensively egotistical, greedy, or even overcome by his sexual desires and persona. He maintained his health and his HIV-negative status throughout.

In one sense, Peter Berlin reminded me of Ayn Rand and what she felt about finding the right person in life. Peter Berlin stated he made himself into a sexual icon in the hope that he could "look up" to someone, as Ayn Rand had wanted to look up to someone more intellectual and more brilliant than she, someone who, for Peter's sake, had the same sexual charge and interest to arouse Berlin's physical interest as he aroused others. He wanted someone like himself, but not the same.

While Peter found over the years two very imporant and very dear friends (both of whom later died), he never found, like Ayn Rand didn't find, "the right one" who erotically dreamed as he (and she) had.

While the story is a little tragic in the Romantic sense, Peter Berlin is a healthy 60-year-old and his Narcissism doesn't seem to have limited his life or estranged him from friends in any way. He stayed true to his Bohemian roots, financially and spiritually. A happy ending! (No pun intended.)

I'm glad I've got Peter Berlin in my mind now, not as "only" some former porn star, but as an admirable living gay legend.

P.S. It's a hoot to hear John Waters, of all people, say he was "SHOCKED" by Peter Berlin's display of himself! John Waters, shocked? Watch the DVD! I don't think it can be improved upon.