By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Ben Cotner | Ryan White
Country: united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 109
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3264024/combined
Kyle says: “We seem to be living in a golden age of documentaries, perhaps because reality continually proves to be more surprising than fiction, and also perhaps because much of the public finds reality television shows irresistible, including politicians. Recently Chlotrudis acknowledged the blurring of boundaries between reality and fiction by nominating one of the unforgettable 2013 titles THE ACT OF KILLING in the categories of both Best Documentary and Best Movie. The HBO Documentary Films presentation THE CASE AGAINST 8 is a vivid current example of capturing the high drama of life as it is lived.
“The film documents the ideas, preparation and movement on litigation against California’s Proposition 8 from 2008 to 2013. It commences with the short-lived gay euphoria over the Presidential victory of Barack Obama over John McCain, undermined almost immediately by legislation banning gay marriage. The slogan for Proposition 8 was ‘Stand Up For Righteousness.’ One moment California gays and lesbians were jumping up and down cheering ecstatically; the next, they were crying and plunging into abject despair and depression.
“In one of those moments outside the logic of fiction, a Board member of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, Michele Reiner, wife of director Rob Reiner, who is also a Board member, suggests an approach to former in-law, prominent conservative lawyer Ted Olson. Arguing that marriage is a conservative value, he agrees to take on the case with liberal lawyer David Boies. Five years in the filming and about six months in the editing, no one knew what would happen during the course of the litigation, even though we the audience know what is going to happen; but directors Ben Cotler and Ryan White decided it was a journey that must be taken.
“What makes THE CAST AGAINST 8 so moving and so memorable is that it personalizes the story of the plaintiffs, two gay couples who want the same rights as everyone else in California. They are Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami. Gradually we come to know them, admire them, care about them, and even love them. Their story fulfills all the elements of dramatic necessity, including a discouraging beginning, a perilous middle, and an unforgettable ending — in this case in a Supreme Court ruling that left the constitutionality of same-sex marriage an issue still being argued and litigated. But an unstoppable movement was emboldened. At the Lincoln Center screening I attended, the wave of emotion that swept through the audience when the two couples came onto the stage for a Q & A was impossible to miss — four ordinary people who became reluctant heroes.
“There is considerable passion, as well as some inadvertent silliness, evoked by this documentary, from the reality of more time being spent arguing strategy and tactics with LGBT leaders than with right-wing nut jobs, as they are referred to. The foul Rush Limbaugh declares Ted Olson, the lawyer who argued and prevailed in Bush v. Gore in front of the Supreme Court, a traitor for taking the case. (David Boies unsuccessfully represented Al Gore). Lawyer Chuck Cooper attempts to defend Prop 8 but is deflated when the ‘8’ taped to the podium falls to the floor. Contradictory Biblical quotations and insupportable evangelical posturing used to defend the idea of marriage as a union between one man and one woman become increasingly idiotic, as public figures such as Dustin Lance Black, AFER Board member and Oscar-winning author of MILK, calmly and reasonably make the case for the appropriateness of marriage equality. Kris Perry bemusedly mentions her shock at arriving at the Courthouse and seeing a sign in the lobby for directions to ‘Perry vs. Schwarzenegger.’ David Blankenthorn, one of the two witnesses testifying against gay marriage, changes his mind. All the while, the four plaintiffs and the legal staffs become a warmly supportive extended family that remains embroiled in one of the most important legal battles of our time. When Boies says without emotion, ‘Can I see the four of you?’ we don’t know for sure whether or not he is playing for the camera; the same applies for Olson looking up from his pizza and drily announcing, ‘We won.’ 5 cats.
“SeenThursday, May 29, 2014, at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”