Strip Jack Naked starts out as an account of the making of Ron Peck's earlier Nighthawks (one of the world's first widely distributed, gay-made and gay­-themed features), and ends as a compelling look back at growing up gay in London. It's a farewell note to England's last three decades — inked with humor, pol­itics, and a penchant for posing pouches.

In 1980, Nighthawks was the original homo promo — a daring, radical drama; today it seems too cautious, even downbeat and a little gloomy. In an engagingly modest voice-over, Peck explains why Nighthawks turned out the way it did. Inevitably, it has a lot to do with the conflicting demands of the gay community, and even more to do with Ron's own story. Some of the most gripping moments come when Peck rips away the fictional tissue from Nighthawks and replays scenes with himself as the film's tortured hero.

With shots of London's spooky suburban streets and a montage of teen lust objects, Peck describes fol­ lowing a senior boy home from school-for no clear reason- only to have the lad repudiate his innnocent admirer in public. It's this unusual honesty that marks Strip Jack Naked as not just a lucid account of the responsibilities of a gay filmmaker, but as one the most honest and abrasive British biographies ever made.