Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
Le charme de l'ambiguïté
TITLE DETAILS

Le charme de l'ambiguïté

1974-01-01 · 58 min · Not rated

Documentary

From transvestites to transformers, we will follow the trail that will lead us in different and famous Parisian music-halls, such as the mythical Alcazar of Paris, La Grande Eugène. Whether they are below or beyond their character, often these men who are looking for themselves look at life with the humor of despair. Why this need to "transform" themselves? Why is it always the men who cross-dress and not the women? Why did the public flock to these shows in the 1970s and 1980s? Interpretations of famous characters such as Diana Ross, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, the Peter Sisters, the Andrew Sisters, Zizi Jeanmaire, Judy Garland, Sarah Bernhardt, among others, contribute to making this musical document an essential testimony of this era.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Richard Olivier
Production companies
Olivier Films
Countries
Belgium
Status
Released

Top Cast

Jean-Marie RivièreJean-Marie RivièreLui-même (Théâtre de l'Alcazar)
Marcel DrouetLui-même (Cabaret des Sans-Gênes)
Léon GriegLui-même (Cabaret des Zeeboys)
La Grande Eugène
La Grande Zoa
Pierre Spivakoff

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Availability not listed for this country.

Recommendations

Paris Is Burning
★ 8.0
Paris Is Burning1991Documentary

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

I Am Divine
★ 7.3
I Am Divine2014Documentary

Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine succeeded in becoming an internationally recognized icon, recording artist, and character actor of stage and screen. Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay men and women, drag queens and punk rockers, and countless other socially ostracized misfits and freaks. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture.

Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts
★ 6.8
Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts2019Documentary

Trixie charmed audiences and judges as winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. But the grind of performing and the pressure of the title proves that heavy is the head that wears the tiara.

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
★ 7.1
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson2017Documentary

Describing herself as a 'street queen,' Johnson was a legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto and a tireless voice for LGBT pride since the days of Stonewall, who along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera, founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), a trans activist group based in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. Her death in 1992 was declared a suicide by the NYPD, but friends never accepted that version of events. Structured as a whodunit, with activist Victoria Cruz cast as detective and audience surrogate, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson celebrates the lasting political legacy of Johnson, while seeking to finally solve the mystery of her unexplained death.

Disclosure
★ 7.8
Disclosure2020Documentary

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

Strip Down, Rise Up
★ 6.4
Strip Down, Rise Up2021Documentary

The feature documentary follows women of all walks of life, all ages and ethnic backgrounds, as they shed trauma, body image shame, sexual abuse and other issues locked in their bodies, and embark on a journey to reclaim themselves. The film also gives a rare window into the world of Pole artistry and expression.

Madonna: Truth or Dare
★ 6.2
Madonna: Truth or Dare1991Documentary

From the rains of Japan, through threats of arrest for 'public indecency' in Canada, and a birthday tribute to her father in Detroit, this documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the icon, from a prayer circle before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards.

Elstree 1976
★ 6.2
Elstree 19762015Documentary

A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.

Tab Hunter Confidential
★ 7.2
Tab Hunter Confidential2015Documentary

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.

Britney: For the Record
★ 7.3
Britney: For the Record2008Documentary

An introspective documentary which chronicles pop music queen Britney Spears' return to the spotlight after her much-publicized professional and personal struggles. Honest, raw and revealing, the one-hour special shares some of Spears' most intimate moments in the span of 60 days, and gives fans an inside look at Britney in the recording studio and on set filming the music videos for one of music's most triumphant comebacks.

The Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
★ 7.5
The Crystal Calls - Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance2019Documentary

Go behind the scenes with stars, puppeteers and creators as they bring Jim Henson's magical world of Thra back to life in a sweeping fantasy series.

I Know That Voice
★ 7.1
I Know That Voice2014Documentary

Filmmaker Lawrence Shapiro discusses voice-over acting with the talented people behind the characters.

Tongues Untied
★ 6.7
Tongues Untied1990Documentary

Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.

Howard
★ 6.8
Howard2018Documentary

Though legendary lyricist Howard Ashman died far too young, his impact on Broadway, movies, and the culture at large were incalculable. Told entirely through rare archival footage and interviews with Ashman’s family, friends, associates, and longtime partner Bill Lauch, Howard is an intimate tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent and a rousing celebration of musical storytelling itself.

Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden
★ 8.6
Lady Gaga Presents: The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden2011Documentary

Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden is a 2011 concert special documenting the February 21 and 22, 2011 shows of Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour. It features concert footage as well as pre-concert and backstage content.

The Last Repair Shop
★ 7.5
The Last Repair Shop2024Documentary

In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.

Pray Away
★ 6.7
Pray Away2021Documentary

In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay" movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.

Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)
★ 8.4
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)2026Documentary

Captured during Billie Eilish's sold-out world tour, a concert experience from one of the most celebrated and successful artists of her generation, presented in immersive 3D.

Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl
★ 7.0
Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl2022Documentary

Step into Casa Madrigal for a special concert spectacular as the original voice cast of Disney Animation's Oscar®-winning "Encanto," Stephanie Beatriz, Adassa, Carolina Gaitán, Jessica Darrow, Diane Guerrero, Mauro Castillo, Angie Cepeda and Olga Merediz, along with special guests including Colombian superstar Carlos Vives, reunites for "Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl." This unprecedented concert experience gives you a front-row seat to the musical extravaganza celebrating the global phenomenon.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
★ 6.0
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood2018Documentary

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

Similar titles

Benita
Not rated
Benita2026Documentary

A documentary that follows Spanish television personality and psychic Benita Castejón Elvira as she embarks on the most important journey of her life: her gender transition. Through a series of personal milestones, Benita reflects on her childhood in a poor Madrid neighborhood, her early career as a performer and media figure, and the struggles that shaped her identity. The film accompanies her through emotional and practical steps of transition—such as changing her legal identity and preparing for gender-affirming surgery—while revealing the private person behind the public persona. Along the way, friends, family members, and LGBTQ+ advocates offer perspectives on her experience, turning the story into both an intimate portrait and a broader reflection on visibility, courage, and the right to live authentically.

Poster unavailable
Not rated
Telling Schoolgirl Tales: The Making of 'The Getting of Wisdom’2006Documentary

First there was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, then ‘My Brilliant Career’, and now best of all ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It is incomparably moving and powerful.

Paris Is Voguing
★ 5.5
Paris Is Voguing2016Documentary

Born in Harlem between the '70s and' 80s, Voguing is a dance inspired by the models that appeared on Vogue magazine. At the time of its birth, young homosexuals, transgender and drag queen were Afro-American and Latino and they would confront themselves in improvised parades, to which Madonna and other popular singer-songwriters would later refer to. In the Paris of the years 2000s, Lasseindra Ninja is one of the most popular dancers, having learned in her youth all the tricks from the historic New York House of Ninja crew. Together with Stéphane Mizrahi the two initiate a new generation of drag queen and Parisian trans into Voguing.

Amores Bonitos Demais Para Se Esconder
Not rated
Amores Bonitos Demais Para Se Esconder2022Documentary

With the aim of studying sexuality and the role of disciplinary power in controlling the female body for a Philosophy of Communication course, the short follows accounts by non-straight women about their process of discovering their sexuality and acceptance.

Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
★ 7.0
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution2017Documentary

A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and was distinguished by its discontent with society's disapproval of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender communities.

The Beach of Enchaquirados
Not rated
The Beach of Enchaquirados2021Documentary

Vicky is fisherman by day and bar owner at night. When she was a little boy her dream was to be a radio soap opera star, nowadays she dreams of falling in love again. How is it possible that a small, barren place in the third world has managed to achieve this special form of freedom and tolerance?

I'm Not Gay
Not rated
I'm Not Gay2023Documentary

A conflicted gay man struggles to teach his younger self about the challenges of adult life. Searching for answers inside stories from his past, he must confront his nature and the man he will become. Documentary meets musical feature in this experimental coming of age drama about power and masculinity in modern day Australia.

Secrets of the Gay Sauna
★ 4.8
Secrets of the Gay Sauna2016Documentary

Gay saunas are places where men meet strangers to have sex. With exclusive access to one Nottingham business, this candid one-off documentary enters the often controversial and always secretive world of the gay sauna for the very first time. The programme meets the people who go there for sexual pleasure - from teachers to plumbers to Tory councillors - and the staff who clean up after them.

The Salt Mines
★ 7.0
The Salt Mines1990Documentary

Explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transvestites who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as "The Salt Mines".

The Transformation
★ 9.0
The Transformation1996Documentary

Ricardo was once Sara, a homeless HIV positive transvestite, living in the underbelly of Manhattan. Today he is a churchgoing, married man, "saved" by a Dallas ministry. He has renounced his homosexuality, but is his conversion complete? Susana Aiken and Carlos Aparicio offer an intimate look at Ricardo's transformation.

Welcome to Chechnya
★ 7.0
Welcome to Chechnya2020Documentary

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

Vikken
Not rated
Vikken2021Documentary

Vikken is transgender. He’s about to take hormones for the first time. He records his voice that will disappear, and summons the figures of the past from all over the world for an intimate dialogue with himself.

Private Diary
★ 4.7
Private Diary2003Documentary

Private Diary documents photographer Pedro Usabiaga working with a variety of amateur models. The audience sees how the relationships between the photographer and the subjects changes during their time together, as well as how the individual photographs begin to take shape. Pedro Usabiaga is a well-established Basque photographer whose chief concerns are figurative photography and whose passion in photographing the Spanish male. In this hour long conversation with the artist we are given entry into that process of selecting models (none of the models he uses for this book to be titled 'Private Diary' are professional, but instead are randomly chosen as Usabiaga observes athletes in action) and then allowed to follow Usabiaga and his crew as they photograph these men in natural settings and natural light.

LARRY (they/them)
★ 10.0
LARRY (they/them)2024Documentary

A young non-binary trans photographer, Laurence Philomène asserts themselves as one of the most original and inspiring voices of their generation and an icon of the LGBTQ+ community. Revealing both Laurence's intimate world and creative process, "LARRY (they/them)" paints a luminous and committed portrait of the complex and often misunderstood multiplicity of trans and non-binary identities and experiences.

Disclosure
★ 7.8
Disclosure2020Documentary

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

The Murder of Brianna Ghey: An ITV News Special
Not rated
The Murder of Brianna Ghey: An ITV News Special2024Documentary

In the aftermath of the attack and murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, ITV News investigates key court evidence and an interview with Ghey's mother at the time of the killing.

Someone Waits For Me
Not rated
Someone Waits For Me2021Documentary

The story of five lesbian and gay seniors in the Northwest Florida region as they navigate coming out, identity, politics, and the challenges and victories inherent in the gay experience. The film weaves together interviews with fictionalized interludes of magical realism that capture their feelings and experiences.

Drag Race France
Not rated
Drag Race France2023Documentary

Dear Viv
★ 9.0
Dear Viv2025Documentary

A tribute to drag superstar, The Vivienne. Friends and family share touching stories of the RuPaul's Drag Race UK winner and her legacy. Her spirit lives on through unreleased footage, showcasing her unique personality and how her passion for entertaining left a mark in the world. Interviews with her dearest drag sisters Baga Chipz, Michael Marouli, Danny Beard, Tia Kofi, Cheryl Hole and more.

Safe Space
Not rated
Safe Space2023Documentary

Following the lives of Queer creatives behind Norwich’s queer collaborative ‘Stripped Sets’. We discover the reasoning behind the need for safe spaces, and the stories that come with them. Through live events, photoshoots and history, we see the process in creating such an important event.

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.