Chris Rock Movie:

		List Price: $29.95		Label: Water Bearer Films Salesrank: 91097 Released: November 11, 1998
		Our Price: $9.99
		Used Price: $9.99
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

A Very Natural Thing (25th Anniversary Edition) Reviews:
EXCELLENT film! Could watch it over and over!!!
2009-03-03 - I don't know what the reviewer "Gordon Larko" is smoking. For some reason, he feels compelled to leave the EXACT SAME horrible review and 1 STAR rating for all GAY-THEMED movies. Probably a "personal problem" of his. Hopefully this review will help correct this imbalance. I can't believe AMAZON is allowing this GAY BASHER to use their website as a venue to spread his hate.
By the way, This is an absolutely WONDERFUL movie!

A Simple and Sweet Gay Classic
2009-01-26 - " A Very Natural Thing"

A Simple and Sweet Gay Classic

Amos Lassen

In 1974, "A Very Natural Thing" opened. It was the first film that was directed by an openly gay man to be commercially distributed. The story of a former priest who moves to New York City to find love is now available from Water Bearer films in a 25th anniversary special edition. We have come a long way in 25 years but it is important to remember where we came from and "A Very Natural Thing" tore down barriers and put us in a position that we could have other films that look at the way we live.
For its time the film is quite explicit yet it is also insightful, sweet and simple. David, 26, decides to leave the priesthood, move to New York and look for a relationship that is meaningful and full of love and mutual respect. He meets and falls for Mark and they set up house. However, differences between them begin to push them apart. Mark wants to experiment sexually with others and David agrees to go along even though he sees their being together as a marriage and he worries if he will ever heal should this bring about the end of their relationship.
We see a time when gay men and women were afraid of being discovered and here we see gay men who are "people" and the two main characters could be anyone and could have lived anywhere. They are not stereotypes but representative of the way we lived (and the way some still do live). I have heard people say that the film is dated and I suppose it is (unless you live in small town America). It takes place in the mid 70's, the age of sexual liberation before AIDS and HIV changed the sexual freedom that was prevalent. It is great fun to look at the clothing, haircuts, and automobiles as well as at the way gay people lived then. The most important part of the film though is the relationship between Mark and David, two men who are psychologically different who meet in a dance club, fall in love and set up a life together. We see what two gay men might experience when they live together.
Realizing also that this film was made just five years after "The Boys in the Band" brought its version of gay life to the screen, this film contains no self-loathing characters but instead we see real and natural characters. The dialog for the time is quite sensitive and we get one of the best depictions of gay bonding ever portrayed on the screen (even for today). Of course there have been some modern exceptions but it seems, to me, at least, that this aspect in gay cinema is still in the process of evolution. There are some beautiful images of male/male love here that are both happy and celebratory and the last five minutes capture the heart as few films do. There is a cinema verite quality to some of the scenes (Fire Island and the baths, for example).
Once again, I want to say what a beautiful film this is but it is a period piece. The direction is somewhat uneven and the film is grainy but it is powerful as it looks at the nature of gay relationships. When looked at from a historical perspective, we see that people's attitude toward diversity, we see that not much has changed and we, as gay people, are still struggling with some of the problems we see in the film.
Granted the film is amateurish in terms of acting, photography and sound but so what? I found it wonderful to be nostalgic and look at the good old days. For some it may be hard to believe that in order to meet someone, we had to go out and talk to people instead of sitting behind a computer and visiting chat rooms in the hope f meeting someone. At that time you usually saw who you got before you got him so disappointment was not as great. It was a different time and for those of you who did not live through it; here is your chance to get a little gay history nicely wrapped up in a love story.


An important first step
2009-01-13 - After the shrill campiness of the movie adaptation of 1970's "The Boys in the Band" (which had the characters tearing each other down during the bulk of its running time), along came this more gentler study of gay life in 1973. This is probably the first mainstream film to deal honestly with gay love, friendship & relationships.
The story centers on Jason, who has just left the priesthood because he couldn't balance his devotion to God with his sexuality. Moving to New York, he becomes a school teacher, quietly living out his life, and soon meets the handsome David at a gay bar. Delving into a passionate love affair & soon living together, time wears on. Later, the differences between the two men become more glaringly apparent: David is more casual & liberated, while Jason is intensely romantic & monogamous. David's discreet infidelities and their agreement to experiment to "spice things up" in their relationship succeed in undermining their stability, and they break up.
Shortly after some quiet soul searching, Jason attends the local Gay Pride Festival & meets another handsome man, who has declared his homosexuality & emerged from a dissolved straight marriage. Once again, Jason delves into another passionate affair, but he is wiser this time around: He tells the man to just take things slow & simply enjoy each other's company. Jason assures him that this decision does not mean he likes him any less.
A rather dated film in its depiction of bad hair, bad clothing, and bad disco music (which, in respect, it's powerless to change), AVNT manages to address some very real issues in relationships. Such issues are people's tendencies to expect "the perfect love" or the disillusionment that the other person can conform to our expectations.
Some viewers might find the insertions of interviews with gays & lesbians during the Pride Fest to be an intrusive element to the story. I was slightly annoyed of the interruption, but also found the atmosphere functioning as an important time capsule of the earlier days of gay rights movements.
The slow motion climax of the two lovers frollicking nude in the beach waves was sweetly moving, a symbol of them revelling in love & freedom.
I was disappointed there were no extras; even an interview with filmmaker Christopher Larkin would've been nice.
Although the film is not exactly superior in its cinematic scope, and has some rather stilted 70's dialogue, it is honest & often moving.

Great slice of gay NYC circa 1973
2008-11-23 - This movie has actual footage and interviews filmed at the 1973 Gay Pride/Christopher Street West footage. It also has footage filmed inside the Club Baths and the disco Sanctuary.

Everyone is searching for something
2007-05-18 - For the era in which this film was made, it is one I would consider pretty good overall, but by today's standards, It is not something I really want to watch again. It is a rather confusing story and doesn't deliver on the promises it's description would imply. Perhaps a second viewing would fill in some gaps and shed a little more light on some of this. The acting is alright, but could be better. The content is disappointing and the lighting throughout is not very good. It does have a few high spots and the actors aren't bad looking, and the ending IS surprisingly pretty good. I was not impressed real well with the casting on this one, and felt they could have found better people to fit many of the parts. It does deliver a little nudity which gives it more appeal, but also done tastefully as not to turn the film into a porn flick. It starts out with a whole lot more appeal than it ends with, and kinda loses steam as it goes along. This is an openly exposed look at some of the difficulties of the gay life, and finding love, versus shallow sexual fulfillment. It is also a historic look back at gay life in the 1970's which exposes a few differences to gay life today and how much it has changed. It does have some fun and entertaining moments here and there, especially in the ending. I would have to say I really do like this film up to a certain point, but there's just something missing that makes it a little disappointing as well. In it's time, this film was probably satisfying to it's audience, but I think maybe it's time is too long gone, and we've progressed today to much better films, which puts this one in it's own little time capsule, making it more suitable for history, than entertainment. I'll give it one thumb up and rate it with three stars, but I honestly wouldn't recommend buying it unless you just can't find anything else. If you're looking for something special about this being the "25th Anniversary Edition", you can stop looking. It is different from the original only in format as it is now on DVD. I found nothing else about it to differentiate it from the original release. Pretty good, but pretty disappointing overall.