The legacy of William Friedkin’s 1980 erotic thriller “Cruising” is a complex one. A film long vehemently denounced by the queer community it purported to represent, and more recently reclaimed as a rare mainstream portrait of a vanished social scene, it is many things to many people — and in disentangling its onscreen achievements and errors in judgment from its heated production history, “Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders” already has a lot to do. But Jeffrey Schwarz’s engaging, impassioned documentary takes on plenty else besides, delving not just into the film but the climate of 1970s LGBTQ liberation, persecution and panic that enabled it, as well the horrific real-life murders that specifically inspired Friedkin’s script.
That can sometimes feel a shade too much for a film that glides by in a tight, gripping 85 minutes, buoyed by a lively, knowledgable ensemble of talking heads who variously contribute astute analysis, affecting personal investment and anecdotal spice to the subject. But the gear shifts here between pop-culture study and true-crime tragedy can sometimes feel abrupt and even a little jarring: “Mineshaft’s” bifocal portrait of a fraught turning point in American gay life wouldn’t be any less fascinating on a slightly larger canvas. Regardless, this Tribeca premiere is sure to be a hit with LGBTQ-oriented festival programmers, distributors and/or specialist streamers, abetted by Schwarz’s reputation as a chronicler of queer art through such previous films as “I Am Divine” and “Tab Hunter Confidential.” In a theatrical environment, it’s veritably designed for animated post-screening Q&As, not to mention double-billing opportunities with Friedkin’s original film.
