A House Is Not a Disco, the debut feature-length documentary by actor Brian J. Smith (Sense8), celebrates the hedonism, sadness, and complicated future of the Fire Island Pines.
Shot over two seasons at the genuinely legendary beach, Smith introduces nobody and simply launches into interviews with and observations of about a dozen or so residents of the beach community that has long served as refuge and secondary (and spiritually primary) home to generations of gay men. The older boomer residents celebrate the arrival of a younger generation but also meditate on the friends lost to AIDS. (At one point, a resident notes, a full third of the homes on Fire Island were on market as the owners died one by one during “the plague.”) The younger folks are largely there to party and it looks like the Gen X folks are doing all the work (of course).
Smith creates a largely mellow hang-out doc, mixing the observational traditions of Frederick Wiseman with brief interviews with interesting men, who have been coming to the Pines for days or decades, all with roughly the same goal: to be unabashedly themselves.
The film is not without tension: gay men of color have mixed feelings about the exclusivity of the mostly rich, white community. A few trans activists dot the landscape, one heading up the creation of a park and public water fountain honoring Marsha P. Johnson, a prime mover at the Stonewall uprising. And everyone is worried about the ongoing erosion of the beach in the tiny enclave, an erosion spurred by global climate change.
A House Is Not a Disco is gorgeously shot by cinematographer Eric Schleicher, who eschews the handheld style that could have lent the proceedings a tacky reality show feeling and frames every moment for excellent emotional impact, be it the labor of assembling an enormous sound system for the massive, annual party, the bacchanalia itself, or the more everyday moments (a drag queen getting herself ready in a mirror, an older couple calmly arguing about the Pines reputation for exclusivity or simply waves lapping on the beach). It’s a lovely look at a community with a rich history and uncertain future.
A House Is Not a Disco
Documentary Feature Competition, World Premiere
Sunday, March 10, 3:30pm, Alamo LamarThursday, March 14, 9pm, AFS Cinema
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This article appears in March 8 • 2024.