- Director: Sara Jordenö
- Disc Format: NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: MPI Home Video
- DVD Release Date: August 22, 2017
- Run Time: 94 minutes
In 1990, the
documentary Paris is Burning
chronicled New York’s
drag scene in the 1980s, while examining the significance and success of the
balls and the voguing dance style that dominated them. But more than just a
film about the LGTB art culture, Paris is
Burning was a film that examined the struggle of those perceived as
different, adding the struggle of being a racial minority to the judgment about
their gender and sexual identities. Paris
is Burning was such an important film that Kiki automatically fights an uphill battle of relevance. Choosing
the exact same topic and themes, Kiki
is a follow-up film that doesn’t dig as deep or add much new to the topic. It
is still significant, but somehow feels less important.
The Kiki
community and culture is made up of a diverse group of young contributors, all
of which see the balls as a place where they can truly express themselves. In
order to show this, filmmaker Sara Jordenö spends a great deal of the film
introducing us to individuals, rather than focusing on the actual balls or
competitions within them. While this does make for a more intimate approach, it
also gives the film a structure that feels more scattered than focused. While
we get to know several individuals on a more personal level, the film has no
central character or event to ground it, so that it feels more like a series of
snapshots. If immersion into the Kiki community is the only goal, the
documentary achieves it, though with only a fraction of the impact that Paris is Burning had so many years ago.
Jordenö’s film
is most successful at capturing the essence of the Kiki community when actually
filming the events or gathering. When they are dressing in the elaborate
costumes or voguing, Kiki is a far
more compelling film than the countless scenes of the participants discussing
their social activism and/or feelings of disenfranchisement. Not that this is
not important to their story, but it dominates the film in such an unbalanced
way that the title Kiki occasionally
feels like false advertising. Even when the individuals are compelling in their
sometimes contradictory personality traits, the varied footage tends to feel
more scattered than enlightened.
The special
features for the Kiki DVD include a
trailer for the film, along with a music video that almost has more of the
iconic elements of the art scene than the film itself.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 2.5/10
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