larapha The cinematic biography of Irving Berlin is a diving in the beginnings of erotic gay male cinematic world of the seventies. I myself remember him as an Icon of the times, even though he didn't engage in proper hard core films. That's perhaps why he was spared of AIDS epidemics, and can give a live presence in this doc. The film is interesting in many aspects, the most important of them being to give the ambiance in which gay people then lived. It was not necessary to be explicit to be erotic, and the film explores that. The testimony of Berlin is a high point for the film. He's a completely free soul, living from the grace of his friends and entering his sixties still with sex appeal. We are introduced to the main films he recorded at the time, very ingenuous for today's standards. All in all, it's a pleasant memoir to watch.

rigan-1 What I liked most about Jim Tushinski's film was that he avoided "commenting" on his subject. In the true spirit of the documentary he leaves it up to the audience to draw their own conclusions concerning Peter Berlin, his motivations, and his inner life. Peter remains an enigma through much of this documentary and is dubbed the "Greta Garbo of porn". I found the film very thought provoking. "That Man: Peter Berlin" joins the pantheon of gay culture and the interviews by such gay luminaries as John Waters and Armistead Maupin are an added treat. If you liked this film check out Jim's "Jan Michael Vincent Is My Muse". It's touching and humorous.

SanFranMike This documentary is a very polished retrospective on a sexual icon of the 60's and 70's, on both coasts. The celebrity interviews are very well done, and the entire picture is extremely well edited to hold the viewer's interest all the way through. A man like Peter Berlin who caught the attention of Andy Warhol and his social circles is certainly a personality worth knowing more about. There's been no one like him since. I saw the film in San Francisco, in a packed theater, with Peter Berlin in person interviewed after the show. All attendees certainly seemed as fascinated by the man as I was, whether or not they agreed with his lifestyle, or the values that he represented -- and still does. I urge you to see this very well done work and judge for yourself.

DPennSOBE I had the pleasure of joining a near capacity audience for the North American Premier of "That Man: Peter Berlin" at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The film provides a provocative and entertaining look at the life of this 70's gay sex icon who has for years shunned any camera but his own. Containing hundreds of Berlin's pictures of himself (every inch of himself), his vain, self absorbed persona drew me in much as it apparently drew in thousands when he was a 30 year old exhibitionist hunk cruising the streets of San Francisco in his white, skin tight, pants (with a bushel sized basket) and blonde page-boy haircut in the 70's.Armistead Maupin, John Waters and porn legend Jack Wrangler, together with Producer Lawrence Helman provide insight and commentary into this extraordinary life. Robert Maplethorpe and Andy Warhol provided a glowing peer review from the grave of this interesting photographer cum street performance artist. Possibly most remarkable was the on camera interaction between the Director and the painfully shy Armin (Berlin's real name) about his life experience and his unique take on sex and sexuality.Director, Jim Tushinski, did a remarkable job of introducing us to both the persona "Peter Berlin" and the reclusive 62 year old from San Francisco who created this iconic persona during his youth.This is Tushinski's first documentary. While the 80 minutes passed quickly with so much eye candy, the film could benefit from some additional editing and deletion of some stock footage of seemingly irrelevant gay pride parades and such improving both the pace and the length of the film.