Documentary director Billy Corben is in the midst of a prolific 2011. The Cocaine Cowboys director premiered his marijuana doc Square Grouper: The Godfathers of Ganja at SXSW (where we reviewed it and interviewed him). He has Dawg Fight coming later in the year, and he recently debuted Limelight at the Tribeca Film Festival. The doc follows Ontario-born Peter Gatien on his rise and fall as the “King of New York Clubs.”
Taking an exhilarating Goodfellas-esque approach on the fame, money, and lifestyle that came with opening the four biggest clubs in NYC, Corben introduces a set of real-life eclectic characters that could easily be found in Scorsese’s masterpiece. With a focus on the 80s and 90s club scene, specifically Limelight, we learn how Gatien climbed the ladder and was then hit with legal trouble due to the drug-fueled frenzy in the clubs.
Gatien’s slick and engaging demeanor make him the perfect doc subject. His cohorts, ranging from drug lords to lawyers to crossdressing club promoters each bring a new side to the evolving story and Corben rarely slows down. With each new interview a revelation appears, sometimes flipping everything we previously thought around. It certainly helps I had no knowledge of the events going in, but if you were part of this club scene, it serves as a fair and balanced time capsule. Nick Newman (you can follow him on Twitter here) and I discussed the film in a video review, which can be seen below.
Magnolia Pictures has picked up Limelight for distribution.