How could I not go see this?! Several dejected moviegoers were asking me if I had extra tickets when going in at the Istanbul film festival. I tried to reassure them that the local documentary film channel would probably be showing it in the near future. Luckily, I saw no men in trenchcoats and proceeded in.
I have to give the filmmakers props, they treated the subject with respect and even-handedness. The film isn't about pornography, but rather how this particular movie played a role in America in the 1970s. Obviously, the filmmakers are on the side of freedom of speech, but they treated Linda Lovelace's family with respect. Crisply edited and well-paced, it features such talking heads as Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, John Waters (who I got to see for a second time this festival- yay!), Dick Cavett (who obviously was having a ball with the whole thing), Camille Paglia, Erica Jong, Dr. Ruth, and members of the crew and cast of this historically important film.
Historically important however, because of 20/20 hindsight. Obviously, any director of this subject is bound to suffer from some notions of grandeur. The statement at the end of the film that claims "Deep Throat" was not important because it was the first blow job movie but rather because it served as a crusader for the 1st amendment shows a bit of overreaching. Yeah, many aspects of society converged on the release of the film, but in this age of overanalysis and micro-niche studies of history (e.g. the invention of spandex and how it changed the world!), I often feel that films such as these are less about illuminating the public and more about illuminating the talking heads and mini-industries that spring up around them.
In certain ways however, it is a historically important document. For example, since I don't know the history of the porn industry, I didn't know that this film essentially launched the obsession men have with fellatio. If you look at porn ads (and I have to daily when I check my email) you can easily see the truth in that claim.
I also didn't know about the court cases, how the mafia played such a major role, or just how profitable this film was, particularly when examined in the backdrop of the 1970s, when Nixon was going out and Carter coming in. It's interesting how something as major as a presidential election would affect the outcome of the case, as one lawyer says to "Deep Throat" actor Harry Reems, "If a Republican wins, you're going to jail. If a Democrat wins, you won't." A Republican won, and the lawyer was right.
Sigh. Seeing Reems debate Ray Cohn just honed in for me how much I dislike right-wing nitwits. Obviously, not much has changed between then and now. The culture wars continue, and people still don't want to stay out of others' bedrooms. Now who is more perverse? Note: I was wondering if the filmmakers were going to show an example of Lovelace's amazing oral abilities and was really struggling to think how it could be done tastefully (no pun intended). They did show it and I have to hand it to them, it was done simply, with no big fuss and very quickly. Talking about censorship and then not showing a clip of what made the film so famous would have been problematic, wouldn't it?
cococravescinema.blogspot.com
I have to give the filmmakers props, they treated the subject with respect and even-handedness. The film isn't about pornography, but rather how this particular movie played a role in America in the 1970s. Obviously, the filmmakers are on the side of freedom of speech, but they treated Linda Lovelace's family with respect. Crisply edited and well-paced, it features such talking heads as Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer, John Waters (who I got to see for a second time this festival- yay!), Dick Cavett (who obviously was having a ball with the whole thing), Camille Paglia, Erica Jong, Dr. Ruth, and members of the crew and cast of this historically important film.
Historically important however, because of 20/20 hindsight. Obviously, any director of this subject is bound to suffer from some notions of grandeur. The statement at the end of the film that claims "Deep Throat" was not important because it was the first blow job movie but rather because it served as a crusader for the 1st amendment shows a bit of overreaching. Yeah, many aspects of society converged on the release of the film, but in this age of overanalysis and micro-niche studies of history (e.g. the invention of spandex and how it changed the world!), I often feel that films such as these are less about illuminating the public and more about illuminating the talking heads and mini-industries that spring up around them.
In certain ways however, it is a historically important document. For example, since I don't know the history of the porn industry, I didn't know that this film essentially launched the obsession men have with fellatio. If you look at porn ads (and I have to daily when I check my email) you can easily see the truth in that claim.
I also didn't know about the court cases, how the mafia played such a major role, or just how profitable this film was, particularly when examined in the backdrop of the 1970s, when Nixon was going out and Carter coming in. It's interesting how something as major as a presidential election would affect the outcome of the case, as one lawyer says to "Deep Throat" actor Harry Reems, "If a Republican wins, you're going to jail. If a Democrat wins, you won't." A Republican won, and the lawyer was right.
Sigh. Seeing Reems debate Ray Cohn just honed in for me how much I dislike right-wing nitwits. Obviously, not much has changed between then and now. The culture wars continue, and people still don't want to stay out of others' bedrooms. Now who is more perverse? Note: I was wondering if the filmmakers were going to show an example of Lovelace's amazing oral abilities and was really struggling to think how it could be done tastefully (no pun intended). They did show it and I have to hand it to them, it was done simply, with no big fuss and very quickly. Talking about censorship and then not showing a clip of what made the film so famous would have been problematic, wouldn't it?
cococravescinema.blogspot.com