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The Secret Disco Revolution

Play trailer Poster for The Secret Disco Revolution 2012 1h 25m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
43% Tomatometer 21 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Alice Echols, Michael Musto, Gloria Gaynor, Thelma Houston and others appear in filmmaker Jamie Kastner's exploration of disco music's empowerment of women, blacks and homosexuals.
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The Secret Disco Revolution

Critics Reviews

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Kyle Smith New York Post 06/28/2013
2/4
"The Secret Disco Revolution" laughably fails to turn Barry White and Donna Summer into the Che Guevara and Emma Goldman of the dance floor. Go to Full Review
David DeWitt New York Times 06/28/2013
2.5/5
Faddish taste may be interesting for some, but for others it will devolve into the banal, as cultural history as well as entertainment. Go to Full Review
Moira MacDonald Seattle Times 06/27/2013
3/4
The veil is lifted on this secret movement, one that everyone else thought was just about dancing and doing coke. Go to Full Review
Pat Padua Spectrum Culture 08/30/2018
2/5
Disco deserves better. Go to Full Review
John Fink The Film Stage 08/08/2016
B
The film's strongest moments are in its case for what brought down disco including its broad expansion via radio. Go to Full Review
Glenn Dunks Glenn Dunks 09/05/2013
C-
While there is plenty of interest in Kastner's documentary, anybody with more than a passing knowledge of the disco era will know most of it already. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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09/28/2013 Perhaps because I remember the disco era, and I loved the music, I liked this movie more than I should have. Some of the interviews are intriguing, the music is incredible, and the video footage (from the files) is great. The best section deals with Studio 54--a trip all by itself. See more 07/19/2013 I watched it sober. Not the recommended approach to an argument that disco is the musical embodiment of the feminist critique of patriarchy. In a different mood I might have been able to consider Donna Summer's Love to Love you Baby as a rejection of the three-minute sex act! See more 07/06/2013 Great film about disco. Awful premise. Great footage and interviews with some of disco's creators and haters. Definitely can get thru 1 hour and 24 minutes and feel good about it. See more 06/30/2013 THE SECRET DISCO REVOLUTION has a great premise at its core--investigating disco fever from a socio-political perspective--something disco truly deserves. Sadly, DISCO gets all wrapped up in the music biz and hedonism and loses its way. A VH-1 doc at best. Another missed opp at the bijou :( See more 06/22/2013 The disco documentary is contains too funky music from the beginning to the end. See more 06/11/2013 This is one of the best documentaries I've seen all year! Really, I don't know how it gets better than this. First off, you've got an examination of the best music from the 70s. From The Village People's "YMCA" to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, you'll learn something new about all these songs. Then you have the interviews themselves. Director Jamie Kastner smartly has a wide berth of interviewees. While the disco stars are no doubt represented, with The Village People (my fave interview) at the end, so too are the producers, and even scholars. Through these people, Kastner depicts a holistic and informed image of disco and the 70s. At its base level, he shows disco as a hedonistic, pleasure-principle driven dance party. On a more intellectual level, Kastner shows that disco was actually used by underrepresented minorities to express their inner most desires and anxieties. With great music and interviews, and even several clips from the venerable Soul Train, it's hard not to find something to love here. See more Read all reviews
The Secret Disco Revolution

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Movie Info

Synopsis Alice Echols, Michael Musto, Gloria Gaynor, Thelma Houston and others appear in filmmaker Jamie Kastner's exploration of disco music's empowerment of women, blacks and homosexuals.
Director
Jamie Kastner
Producer
Jamie Kastner
Screenwriter
Jamie Kastner
Production Co
Cave 7 Productions Inc.
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 7, 2014
Runtime
1h 25m
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