Limelight

What looks like a fizzy cocktail of NYC pop-nostalgia morphs into a gripping true-crime courtroom case in this documentary directed by Billy Corben. Canadian entrepreneur Peter Gatien established a number of successful nightspots in the United States, including the Limelight, a disco in a former Manhattan church that became the place to see and be seen for straights and gays alike in the 1980s. Meanwhile, AIDS and ecstasy (among other narcotics) hit the Big Apple party scene, and NYC police and government prosecutors—determined to clean up the streets during the crack-cocaine nightmare—targeted Gatien, making an example out of the eyepatch-wearing mogul. The case fell apart when a trio of “scumbag” key witnesses eventually turned on their own government handlers, but authorities and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's City Hall remained obsessed with “getting” Gatien, and he was eventually deported. Whether or not one buys into the dubious proposal that the Limelight was a cultural treasure, the incredible story here comes across like the American dream in reverse—a successful immigrant torn down by a vindictive, prejudiced system. Corben interviews Gatien and other figures on both sides, and even though Gatien's daughter served as producer, it's clear that the subject was scapegoated (books such as Clubland, by interviewee Frank Owen, have touched on the same material). DVD extras include deleted scenes. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)