Buy Funkytown on DVD

Funkytown

Wolfe Releasing / Year: 2011

DVD

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Synopsis

The King of disco. The man with a secret life. The rising star eager to get ahead. The music producer desperate for one more hit. In Montreal in 1976, they all wanted to see and be seen at the trendiest club in town, and juggled freedom and tradition, lovers and family, drugs and sobriety, fame and anonymity, in a time when excess was the norm, and disco ruled. Based on true events, Funkytown brings back the glitter, glamour and edginess of that era.

3 Reasons To buy this film

Justin Chatwin (Shameless: The Complete First Season) is a serious hottie. I don't mind watching him walk around in a tight-wasted pair of bell bottoms.
In the tradition of '70s-based movies like Boogie Nights and 54, Funkytown is a heart-pumping, toe-tapping trip back through time that will make you nostalgic for the days of disco.
The film won three Genie awards from the Academy of Canadian Cinema - one for Best Art Direction, another for Best Costume Design and a third for Best Original Song.

Review

Funkytown follows several different characters who congregate at "The Starlight," a wildly popular Montreal nightclub that boasts about having "a special floor for the homos." There are too many characters and plot strands to mention, but the one of most interest to gay viewers concerns super-cutie Justin Chatwin (Showtime’s "Shameless"). If you’ve seen the pilot episode of "Weeds," you may remember Chatwin as a conniving young drug dealer who turns tricks for married suburban men on the side – he has a hot scene in his tighty-whities (as he does in this movie).

Chatwin stars as Tino DeiFiori, a closeted waiter who frequents The Starlight with his "girlfriend" and dance partner Tina (Romina D'Ugo). The pair catch their big break after winning a competition and earning a spot as dancers on the hit Canadian TV show "Disco Dance Party" (think "American Bandstand"). Soon after this success, Tino catches the eye of fashion icon, TV personality and "king of disco" Jonathan Aaronson (played by Paul Doucet with a perfect mix of likeability and lecherousness). Jonathan figures out Tino’s secret quickly and sets about seducing him. They meet up at a cruising spot under the bridge and quickly become secret lovers.

Jonathan falls for Tino pretty hard. Sadly, Tino is nowhere near ready to admit his desires. He convinces himself that he must marry Tina and start a family if he has any hope of living a normal life. Their relationship doesn’t seem destined to continue out in the open, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy some carnal pleasures together in private. After all, in Tino’s warped devout Italian-Catholic mind, gay sex doesn’t really count as cheating anyway – since it isn’t natural, of course.

In 1976, that year during which this film is based, I was not yet born. For that reason, Funkytown didn’t make me feel nostalgic for the era that it depicts, but I did feel nostalgic for the numerous disco era-based movies that popped up in the 1990s during the ‘70s retro craze - Boogie Nights, 54, Summer of Sam and The Last Days of Disco, to name a few. Funkytown combines a lot of elements (namely sexual promiscuity and cocaine abuse) already covered by those movies – and Saturday Night Fever, of course – but has a compelling style all its own. The film is fast-paced, packed with thrilling visual flourishes, compelling performances and perfect period design. It also has a non-stop soundtrack filled with toe-tappng '70s hits.

-- Robert O'Neill

Product Format Information

DVD : $19.99

Availability: In stock and ready to ship
Close Caption: Yes
Region Code: 1
UPC: 754703763808
Catalog #: DV34212502

Studio : Wolfe Releasing

Languages: English 5.1 (Primary) , English 2.0 , French 5.1 , French 2.0 , English Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
Extras: Trailers
Features:
Original theatrical trailer

Customer Reviews

Montreal, 1978

Amos Lassen wrote on 07/24/2012:

Following the lives of characters in Montreal in 1976, we are taken back to that time when disco ruled. Our eight main characters’ lives come together at Starlight, the place to be in Montreal. We get to know our characters as we look at their lives. Chief among them is Bastien, a drug addict who dreams of being an actor and having his pick of women and it is around him that the story revolves.

In the late 1970s disco was declining and Quebec was in the midst of the separatist movement. During the disco era, our bodies spoke for us and as we look at the era, we meet quite a cast of characters. Bastien Lavallee (Patrick Huard) is a host on television on a show called Disco Dance Party and he is quite the celebrity. Working with him is Jonathan Aaronson (Paul Doucet) and he lets people know what the latest fad is and what is “in” and what is “out”. Jonathan is gay and he and Bastien hang out at Starlight.

Bastien wants Adriana (Sarah Mutch), a supermodel with great looks but with no talent. Gilles (Raymond Bouchard), the owner of Starlight, is a record producer and he works with his son, Peter (Robert Crooks) who is trying to escape his father’s dominance. Through Gilles we meet Mimi (Genevieve Brouillette), an out of-work sister because of some bad advice that Gilles gave her. She wants a career but nobody wants her. Adriana and her manager, Nicole (Jocelyne Zucco) also wants to launch her career. Bastien and Adriana meet at Starlight and their love affair begins.

Tino (Justin Chatwin) is the disco king who is gay and this consumes him so that he claims to be straight. He says he is in love with his dancing partner, Tina (Romina d’Ugo) yet he is having a romance with Jonathan. Each of the characters seeks fame and each does so in his own way.

This is a film of fame, sex, drugs and disco and we meet the characters as each is introduced while at different points in their lives. There are several stories going on at one time but we do not get confused. The screenplay is so well written that everything works and the stories come across as amazingly real. I was swept up into the movie almost from the moment it began. The music is wonderful and a reminder of a time that was.

“Written beautifully … From start to finish this movie was amazing. Great music … incredible performances … funny, touching and exciting.” – The Film Reel “Echoes of acclaimed American director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ensemble dramas BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA” – MontrealGazette.com “Some SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER with some 54 and some BOOGIE NIGHTS, even some LAST DAYS OF DISCO sprinkled in …” – SF Examiner.com “FUNKYTOWN takes you back to the 70s in beautiful ways … spectacularly captures the moment.”
– NOW “FUNKYTOWN takes us on a ride through the glitz and glamour of the era … hip and stylish retro-morality tale.” – Frameline “Perfectly recreated 70’s flashback from the fantastically gaudy fashions, the great upbeat music, hot dance sequences.” – The Scene in Toronto “The high energy will carry you along and the performances are strong.” – Jam! Showbiz “Director Daniel Roby and screenwriter Steve Galluccio approach their subject matter with intelligence and panache.” – Straight.com “Faithfully recaptures the era … with a soundtrack that will have you shaking your groove thing.”
– The Globe and Mail “The FUNKYTOWN soundtrack, which plays like a best-of album from the period, is infectious, a reminder of a time when Saturday night was made for dancing …” – The Star.com