David Goodis and THE BURGLARS Screening

Check out an upcoming film screening I’m programming for the Cinedelphia Film Festival:

Though he spent a stint living and working in New York and L.A., noir novelist David Goodis (1917 - 1967) was born and raised in Philadelphia. The city left an indelible stamp on his work and his fixation with Philadelphia’s poor urban areas and criminal life, as well as his tendency to sympathize with the city’s outsiders and outlaws often show up in his fiction. His novels such as The Burglar, Of Tender Sin, The Wounded and the Slain and Down There focus on criminals, fugitives, hard luck cases and lives gone wrong. These compelling stories attracted filmmakers, many of them French, where Goodis’ work is more popular than the U.S., and a number of his novels were adapted into well-known films, such as Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player (1960). 

French director Henri Verneuil made a second adaptation of Goodis’ novel The Burglars (1971) aka Le Casse, which was also partly a remake of a ’57 version of the film scripted by Goodis, shot in Philadelphia, directed by Philadelphian Paul Wendkos and starring Jayne Mansfield. Verneuil’s version stars Omar Sharif and Jean-Paul Belmondo. A dirty police inspector purses a gang of burglars who are seeking out a cache of emeralds. This Euro-crime film is relatively obscure within the U.S., but became known for a famous car chase sequence through the streets of Athens, some impressive cinematography from the prolific Claude Renoir, and a great score from composer Ennio Morricone. This stunt heavy, noir tinged heist film is an entertaining look at Goodis’ Philadelphia by way of Europe. Before the screening, a panel of local experts, such as film critic Steven Rea, writer and Poe Guy Edward Pettit, Noir Con founder Lou Boxer, and crime novelist Duane Swierczynski will come together for a panel moderated by film writer Samm Deighan to discuss The Burglar and how Philadelphia shaped Goodis’ life and work. 

This screening, on April 12th at the International House at 7:30 p.m., is part of the upcoming Cinedelphia Film Festival. Find out more about the event on the Facebook page or over at the International House site where you can buy advanced tickets. 

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE

Park Chan-wook, 2002

Starring: Kang-ho Song, Ha-kyun Shin, Doona Bae, Ji-Eun Lim

Korea’s Park Chan-wook has had a cinematic career primarily steeped in horror. His Vengeance trilogy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance come directly from a shock-horror-exploitation tradition, as well as Cut, his segment for the Three...Extremes Asian horror anthology, Thirst, his vampire film from 2009, and Stoker, his upcoming film said to be influenced by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Hitchcock’s domestic serial killer drama Shadow of a Doubt. 

Park's three revenge films are widely different in visual style, but share similar thematic concerns and philosophical issues. All of these films deal with intense, painful relationships between parents and children, as well as siblings. This marks them as domestic revenge films, one of the most popular themes in the larger revenge genre. Park's trilogy questions the purpose of violence and vengeance and speculates what comes after. Confession, atonement and forgiveness are also themes of increasing importance, culminating in Lady Vengeance.

And though Park’s trilogy wanders somewhere between Korean/East Asian horror and Western revenge cinema, it also borrows liberally from English Renaissance drama, namely the Jacobean revenge tragedy made most famous by works like Hamlet, The Spanish Tragedy, The Revenger’s Tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Common characteristics include murder mysteries, intricate plotting, descents into madness, exaggerated, almost comic violence, ghosts, and the wholesale destruction of most of the characters. These types of plays also exhibit a certain rationalism and emotional detachment in the heroes, who are determined to follow through with cold, calculated revenge until the bitter end, even if it means sacrificing their own lives. Revenge tragedies also explore the consequences of political power, absolutism and corruption, which is particularly relevant in South Korea cinema due to the aftermath of a despotic government in the ‘80s and difficulties maintaining peace with North Korea. 

Boksuneun Naui Geot aka Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance directly translates to Vengeance is Mine, a more fitting title considering that sympathy falls short in this bleak, isolating film. A deaf-mute, Ryu, cares for his terminally ill sister, who is on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Unfortunately he gets laid off, panics, and uses the severance pay and one of his own kidneys to make a black market trade for an organ compatible with his sister’s blood type. After his surgery, the organ dealers disappear and soon the hospital tells him they have found a match if he still has the money. His girlfriend, Yeong-mi, comes up with a plan to kidnap his ex-boss’s young daughter for ransom money. Everything goes well until Ryu’s sister discovers what he has done and kills herself. When the grief-stricken Ryu takes the little girl along to bury his sister, she accidentally drowns. 

Dong-jin, the girl’s father, is consumed by grief and plans revenge. He finds Yeong-mi and tortures her to death, despite her warning that she is part of an anarchistic terrorist group who will seek retribution. Ryu, meanwhile, has found and murdered the family of organ dealers. When he learns of Yeong-mi’s death, he swears revenge on Dong-jin, who has been waiting for Ryu at his apartment. He overpowers Ryu and takes him to the river where his daughter died, violently drowning him. While burying the body, Dong-jin is stabbed to death by a group of mysterious revolutionaries. 

Successful in the Korean box office, Sympathy garnered some worldwide attention from Oldboy's later fame, but should be regarded as a near-masterpiece in its own right. Much of the film’s strength lies with its impressive visual style and Park’s strict attention to detail. There is some coldly perfect cinematography by Kim Byeong-il, despite the fact that the film is bright and beautiful with resonating green tones. The sound design is also impressive, with a careful mixture of silence, dialogue, sign language, written notes and intertitles, as well as a sparsely used jazz score. The closing credits are particularly chilling, as we fade out on Dong-jin gurgling and choking on his own blood. 

Sympathy is not a very accessible film because it is glacially paced and centers around deeply isolated characters, a theme that runs through the trilogy as a whole. In the first half of the film many of the dramatic moments and emotional reactions are not shown on screen. Park uses some great, incongruous cuts to achieve this, which work to disorient the viewer and disrupt the pacing and tension, but with purpose and control. The inability of the characters to interact or communicate with one another is established visually by Park’s insistence on bisecting shots and oddly framed scenes. On the surface level, the story is fraught with difficulties and plot holes and is almost absurdly complex, but this seems to be intentional. Park's film is about the pointless nature of revenge, about the impotence of rage and the frustration of alienation. 

It is a staunchly pessimistic film, but is also full of a charming sort of irony. While it can’t accurately be described as a black comedy, it is packed full of quick moments of irony and absurdism that give it additional depth. Sympathy's only real weakness is its sprawling, convoluted plot, made more confusing by the frequent jump cuts. Many of the events don’t make a whole lot of sense, but all of these acts lead to a spiraling path of violence and murder. Most of the violence is implied, but there is a level of brutality that leaves most viewers certain they’ve seen more than has actually been shown. 

Sympathy is a cold, aloof, emotionally void exercise in the purpose and execution of vengeance. Park refuses to provide a moral compass and strips away the catharsis usually implicit in genre films. Both Ryu and Dong-jin are sympathetic, but we are ultimately unable to empathize with either. Despite his later explorations in confession and absolution, the only possible outcome in Sympathy is the finalizing silence of death. With his next film, Oldboy, he graduates to the question of what comes after revenge and whether or not identity and emotion can be rehabilitated. 

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance comes highly recommended for fans of revenge films and/or Korean horror. It is available on DVD in a basic edition from Tartan Video. 

DJANGO UNCHAINED

Quentin Tarantino, 2012

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson

Quentin Tarantino is one of those tricky subjects for cinephiles. There are plenty of die-hard film nerds who dislike him, and though I enjoy several of his movies, I can understand why. He essentially makes big budget B-movies/exploitation films. Though many of them are very entertaining, they aren’t particularly original. It annoys a lot of movie fans that he steals unmercilessly from other films they love, but I respect him to a certain extent because, without him, I doubt you would be able to go into a mainstream theater and see expensive, well-made exploitation flicks. 

With that said, I don’t understand the hype around Django Unchained. Tarantino has claimed it's his best film and it’s received a lot of critical acclaim. Split in two, somewhat like Kill Bill, Django Unchained is first a neo-Western set in the antebellum South, where a slave named Django is freed by a German bounty hunter/ex-dentist, Dr. King Schultz. Django is desperate to find his wife, Broomhilda, who was sold to an unknown plantation after she and Django tried to run away together. Schultz trains Django to be a body hunter and they hunt down and kill two notorious slavers known as the Brittle Brothers. They form an unlikely partnership and collect more bounties and bodies. 

The second segment of the film is historical melodrama/revenge film that involves King and Django tracking down Broomhilda, who is a slave at the infamous Mississippi Candyland plantation, owned by the very wealthy Calvin Candie. Though charming, Candie has a brutal side and is particularly fond of organizing fights where his strongest slaves battle to the death. King and Django pretend to be interested in the fighting ring in order to rescue Broomhilda and purchase her freedom. Can they hoodwink the clever and cruel Candie and free Broomhilda before the jig is up? 

Django Unchained is inspired by a number of films, including its namesake, Django (1966), one of my favorite cult westerns. The titular Django drags a coffin around behind him for most of the film and tries to get revenge for his wife’s murder. Another major influence is the film Mandingo (1975), about slave fighting. There are references to numerous other westerns and exploitation films, including one of the greatest of the genre, Sergio Corbucci’s The Great Silence (1968). 

The film benefits from some very strong performances, three in particular. As with Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz absolutely steals the film. His performance here as Dr. King Schultz is somewhat similar to his performance in Basterds. He is a protagonist, but one who is willing to do some very unpleasant things. And, as always, he's incredibly charming. Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic as the charismatic, but occasionally rabid Calvin Candie, and is easily one of Tarantino’s most memorable recent villains. Samuel L. Jackson also gives a great performance as Stephen, Candie’s villainous head house slave, another of the film’s best characters. It must be seen to be believed. Jamie Foxx gives a decent, if subdued performance as Django, but suffers from some of the script's limitations. Kerry Washington is lovely, but forgettable as Broomhilda. Unlike nearly every single one of Tarantino's other films, this lacks any strong, memorable female characters. 

As with most Tarantino films, there are some great cameos. James Remar, Michael Parks, Tarantino himself, Russ Tamblyn, Tom Savini, and Dennis Christopher (Fade to Black) make appearances, along with many others. One of the best bit parts in the film goes to Don Johnson. It’s better if I don’t spoil it, though it may take you a moment to recognize him. The absolute best cameo is the original Django, Franco Nero, who has a humorous discussion with Django about how his name is pronounced. He might be in his early 70s now, but he’s just as handsome as ever. 

Django has received a lot of positive critical attention, as well as five Academy Award nominations (with wins for Best Supporting Actor for Waltz and Best Original Screenplay for Tarantino) and it is Tarantino’s most successful film to date. And yet, I'm ambivalent about it. The thing I disliked the most about Django Unchained is its lack of a compelling central character. As with Kill Bill, the film is essentially about a person being freed (Django has his freedom purchased by King and Beatrix wakes up from a coma) to begin a lengthy course of revenge and retrieve a beloved person that was lost (Beatrix’s daughter and Django’s wife). But unlike Kill Bill’s Beatrix, Django is not the most interesting character in Django Unchained and thus the movie basically falls apart three-fourths of the way through when King and Calvin Candie die. The very lengthy 165-minute running time is simply too much for this film. Where Inglourious Basterds is able to keep the pace going because of the large number of well-written characters, Django falls short. 

Like Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained is a historical revenge fantasy, though it is smaller in scope and deals with one slave’s revenge against a few individuals, with the ultimate goal of rescuing his wife. For many reviewers and audience members, the question of racism in Django was a difficult subject. Though Tarantino is able to express the spirit of the times by depicting various types of racism and racially motivated violence and murder, people took issue of his use of the word “nigger.” Personally, I find this baffling. What word do you think people used in the antebellum south? Drive through Baltimore or South Philadelphia, or a variety of other places around the country. What word do you think uneducated, conservative white assholes are still using, if more discretely? Nigger. That’s what word they are using. And pretending it doesn’t exist only makes it more offensive. Tarantino actually drives this home with some excellent satire, namely during a hilarious scene where a pre-KKK group don cheap white hoods and attempt to hunt down King and Django. 

Tarantino excels at historical themes because he is able to capture the spirit of a time more than factual occurrences. The sickening treatment of slaves during this period in American history is expressing with whippings, branding, beatings, etc. The Mandingo-style slave fighting is probably the most powerful example, even if it is not entirely factual. There’s not a whole lot of evidence that slave fighting rings were popular, but it is a wonderful symbolic example of the horrible violence perpetrated against slaves during this period. It elegantly and violently shows the subjugation of bodies for profit, which is at the root of slavery. 

Tarantino further complicates the slavery/racism theme with the presence of Dr. King Schultz and the inclusion of Germanic ideology. Schultz, who is fighting against slavery, hints at what is to come in German history. The Nibelungenlied references are troubling, though Broomhilda von Shaft’s name fortunately pokes fun at this. Though Django Unchained is, at its core, about a black ex-slave getting revenge on white slavers, as other reviewers have already written, the film is ultimately a fantasy for white people about alleviating white guilt over American slavery. The most interesting characters with the most evolved, compelling rhetoric are white. Django barely speaks and barely emotes, other than moments of calculated anger. 

Ultimately this is one of Tarantino’s weaker films, primarily because it lacks the strong writing and witty dialogue that has become one of his signatures. It is still one of the most interesting films to get a wide, commercial release in 2012 and comes recommended. The level of violence has received a lot of criticism, but I don’t think it will phase most genre fans. The final shootout, where Django completes his revenge, is so over-the-top it feels cartoonish, with Candie’s sister taking a gun shot to the chest and actually flying backwards off camera. There's the usual great soundtrack, with a mix of classic rock/pop songs, Ennio Morricone music, the theme from the original Django, and classical music.

Django Unchained is available for pre-order on Blu-ray. Be forewarned about the length and somewhat slow pace during the last two-thirds of the film, but decide for yourself how gratuitous the racism and violence is. It is, at the least, worth watching for Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS

RZA, 2012

Starring: Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu, RZA, Cung Le, Byron Mann, Rick Yune, Jamie Chung

Anyone expecting The Man with the Iron Fists to be a big budget, action extravaganza-Hollywood blockbuster is going to be disappointed. Anyone expecting it to be Kill Bill part three is also going to be disappointed. But anyone who wants to see a ‘70s Shaw Brothers kung fu throwback will most likely have fun and walk away very entertained. The key here really is all about expectations. This is the first film from RZA, one of the most influential musicians and producers of the last 30 years. The man’s talent -- and his obsessive love for kung fu films, which is where the Wu-Tang Clan got their name -- is undeniable, but he is new to filmmaking. Cut the man some slack. 

The Man with the Iron Fists sprouted as an idea during the shooting of Tarantino’s Kill Bill, which RZA scored. He discussed the story idea with horror director Eli Roth, one of Tarantino’s proteges, and Roth and RZA eventually sat down to the pen the script together. A “presented by” credit from Tarantino and some A-list actors helped bring the project to fruition. 

Set during nineteenth century China, a freed slave turned blacksmith lives in Jungle Village and navigates life amidst warring clans, many of whom want him to craft deadly weapons for their ongoing war. The blacksmith and his girlfriend, the prostitute Lady Silk, are saving up money to earn Silk’s freedom and to set out on their own. The Lion Clan are charged with protecting a shipment of the government’s gold, but Gold Lion, the leader, is betrayed and assassinated by his second and third in command, Silver Lion and Bronze Lion. They take command of the clan and plan to steal the gold from its protectors, assassins known as the Geminis. Gold Lion’s son Zen-Yi plots revenge against them. Meanwhile a stranger known as Jack Knife arrives at the Pink Blossom brothel on “vacation,” but it is clear he has ulterior motives. The brothel’s owner, Madam Blossom, is also more than she seems, and convinces Silver Lion to hide the gold in her booby trapped cellar as they prepare for attacks from various clans. 

It may have been unwise for RZA to direct and write his first film and cast himself in the lead role, as he is an inexperienced actor and filmmaker, but he does better than expected as the blacksmith. The film’s major problem is that none of the characters are particularly well developed. The blacksmith has little dialogue and a lengthy, unnecessary flashback sequence in the middle of the film that pretty much brings the proceedings to a halt. Fortunately he is surrounded by some robust performances from actors like Russell Crowe, who is totally on top of his game as Jack Knife, the emperor’s opium-smoking, pussy-eating undercover agent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him have so much fun with a role. I don't really enjoy Russell Crowe as an actor (Romper Stomper and L.A. Confidential are notable exceptions), but every moment he's on screen here is delightful. For an added bit of interest, Jack Knife was allegedly based on Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA's cousin and fellow Wu-Tang Clan member. 

Lucy Liu is decent as Madam Blossom, though due to the script limitations it feels like somewhat of a lazy reprisal of Kill Bill’s O-ren Ishii. Rick Yune (Ninja Assassin, Die Another Day, The Fast and the Furious) is good as Zen-Yi and has some very well choreographed fight scenes. The WWE’s David Batista appears as Brass Body, an evil martial artist with a special power. Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch) is the blacksmith’s lovely, if ineffectual girlfriend, Byron Mann is delightfully diabolical and vain as Silver Lion, and kickboxer Cung Le (True Legend) puts in an energetic performance as Bronze Lion and has a great fight sequence with Lucy Liu. There are numerous cameo appearances from exploitation and kung fu stars, such as Pam Grier, Chen Kuan-tai (Iron Monkey, Crippled Avengers), Gordon Liu, Bryan Leung (Five Shaolin Masters and dozens of other Shaw Brothers films throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s), and others. 

The film is messy, both in terms of editing and script, and the direction is a bit clunky, but it's brimming with enthusiasm and love of the kung fu genre. Despite the fact that it bombed critically, there are enough positive elements to make it worth watching. There’s a typically good, if overwhelming score from RZA and Howard Drossin. The action sequences, which were choreographed by Corey Yuen (The Transporter), are some of the finest moments of the film and the lengthy sequences towards the climax are excellent. To RZA’s credit, practical effects were used in favor of CGI, though there is a bit of the latter. The film is very violent and gory, probably more in the vein of Kill Bill than ‘70s kung fu films. Russell Crowe gets to cut in a man in half. 

Overall The Man with the Iron Fists is an uneven, but fun action flick and a flawed, yet entertaining first film from a director who clearly loves the genre. You could find plenty of things wrong with it, or you could just sit back and enjoy it for what it is: unabashed worship of the Shaw Brothers. Pick up the Blu-ray, which includes the special features and the extended, unrated cut as well as the theatrical version. 

THE PRIVATE AFTERNOONS OF PAMELA MANN

Radley Metzger, 1974

Starring: Barbara Bourbon, Sonny Landham, Darby Lloyd Rains

"She needs a cock down her throat the way another woman needs a chocolate cake down her throat."

After making a series of semi-successful softcore films, Radley Metzger adopted the pseudonym Henry Paris and churned out five of the most interesting hardcore films of the ‘70s, possibly ever made. Though The Opening of Misty Beethoven is undeniably his classic, The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann is his first and one of his best. A housewife, the titular Pamela Mann, goes on a series of adventures and her wealthy, paranoid husband sends a private investigator after her to see what (or who) she’s up to. She deep throats a random stranger on the Brooklyn Bridge, visits a hooker, distracts a conservative politician, gets kidnapped and raped by would-be revolutionaries, etc. There is a nice little twist ending that gives the whole affair a satirical note and explains away the rape fantasy sequence for those of you instantly enraged by the rape segment.  

Like Metzger’s artsy softcore film, The Lickerish Quartet, Pamela Mann is full of humor, twists, and plot complexities usually absent in hardcore porn films. As a result, it lends itself to repeat viewing and the sex is predictable enough that it would probably be safe to recommend to anyone interested in erotica but afraid of anything too hardcore. The sex scenes are fairly short (not like that doozy of a couple-swapping scene in Metzger’s Score) with a focus on oral sex, and there is nothing too transgressive at work. The movie is packed with visual and verbal jokes, including a running gag where a hippy polling girl repeatedly questions Pamela to allegedly give the film some socially redeeming value.

It is also clear that this is Metzger’s (ahem, Henry Paris) first hardcore film, so things don’t run as smoothly as in some of his later works. The sex scenes feel a little forced (not in a non-consensual way, despite that rape fantasy) or almost amateur, and the character development is rather lacking, but it is an enjoyable film regardless. The cinematography of ‘70s New York is particularly fascinating and will be a point of interest for many cinephiles, along with the film’s refreshingly self-aware tone. 

In addition to the stylish visuals and surprisingly developed plot, the film is full of familiar faces, at least for followers of ‘70s porn. The very sexy Barbara Bourbon, who stars as Pamela, sadly wasn’t in many films, though she is absolutely wonderful here. Sonny Landham (The Passions of Carol, Slippery When Wet, The Warriors, Poltergeist, Predator) makes an appearance as a politician. I have had a crush on him since Predator, where many of you will recognize him as Billy, one of the mercenaries. Darby Lloyd Rains (Naked Came the Stranger, Linda Lovelace Meets Miss Jones, Every Inch a Lady and many more) is one of the rapists and famous genre star Jamie Gillis makes an appearance as his partner in crime, though he barely appears in the cut, softcore version of the film. Prolific performer Eric Edwards (over 350 titles including Great Sexpectations and Laura’s Toys) also appears, as does one of my favorite sex film stars, Georgina Spelvin (Devil in Miss Jones), who has a part as the saucy prostitute. 

The wonderful Distribpix released the ultimate edition of Pamela Mann, a restored, two-disc delight that is chock full of special features. Though it is hard to compare anything to their stunning, crowd-funded release of The Opening of Misty Beethoven, this is definitely the best edition of Pamela Mann available and likely better than anyone could have expected. The first disc presents the remastered, uncut, hardcore version of the film, plus a wonderful commentary track with Metzger, a lengthy interview with Eric Edwards, and a Pamela Mann trailer. The second disc includes the softcore version, a substantial interview with Georgina Spelvin, and a series of featurettes focusing on the New York-based locations. Also included is a lovely booklet with a series of essays about the film. So far out of all the Metzger films I've reviewed, Pamela Mann is at the top of the list and the Distribpix release is a wonder to behold. 

DEEP THROAT

Gerard Damiano aka Jerry Gerard, 1972

Starring: Harry Reems, Linda Lovelace, Dolly Sharp

“There should be bells ringing, dams bursting, bombs going off!”

Linda, played by genre icon Linda Lovelace, has never had an orgasm. She asks one of her friends for advice and even attends a sex party, but, only winding up more frustrated, goes to a doctor that her friend recommends. The doctor (Harry Reems) discovers that Linda has a unique birth defect: her clitoris is in the back of her throat. Thus, the only way she can achieve orgasm is by performing deep throat (oral sex requiring no gag reflex, for anyone born under a rock) on the good doctor and a variety of his sexually frustrated patients, acting as a sort of literal sex therapist. 

Perhaps the most famous porn film of all time, Gerard Damiano’s Deep Throat kicked off a brief period of “porn chic,” where it was fashionable to see and talk about porn films. Deep Throat was one of the first hardcore films to have a very high budget for the time period, as well as a detailed plot, some actual character development, and a sizable dollop of humor, including such scenes as fireworks going off during Linda’s long overdue first orgasm. It was shown in some mainstream theaters and reviewed in major publications like the New York Times. 

Deep Throat has also been the source of a number of different controversies. Producer Louis Peraino helped fund the film with money from his father Anthony Peraino, a member of the Colombo mafia family in New York. The mob, known for funding porn, claimed the film made $600 million dollars at the box office, though this is likely grossly inflated. Although initially signed up for a one-third share, Damiano was paid a sum after the film’s release and then forced out of the partnership. Part of the money he was denied allegedly also came from laundering, drugs, and prostitution rackets. The FBI has estimated that the film made $100 million dollars, still a sizable sum for a ‘70s porn film. 

Beginning with growing instances of the film being banned -- at one point 23 states in the U.S., as well as a number of countries -- Deep Throat was also part of a lengthy obscenity trial. Mature Enterprises, which owned one of the theaters in New York screening the film, was taken to trial for the promotion of obscene materials. The film was ruled obscene, skyrocketing it to fame. In 1976 there were more cases charging a variety of people involved with the film, including star Harry Reems, for distributing obscenity across state lines. Well-known actors, film critics, and even a psychiatrist testified on the film’s behalf, but convictions were still upheld. Not too long after, Reems eventually got his overturned with public and Hollywood support. 

“Mind if I smoke while you’re eating?”

Linda Lovelace aka Linda Boreman was the source of yet more controversy. Despite achieving almost instant fame from her role in Deep Throat and writing a number of sex-positive biographies, she later embraced anti-porn feminism and recanted. She claimed her husband sexually and physically abused her and then forced her into porn and prostitution. She stated that watching her performance in Deep Throat akin to watching a woman’s rape. While the abuse is most likely true, and I sympathize, I call bullshit that her performance in Deep Throat was anything other than consensual and enthusiastic. She later changed her mind again and appeared in a porn magazine tribute to fans of Deep Throat. I would call her a hypocrite of the highest order, but Linda passed away in 2002 after a car crash. RIP, lady. 

Damiano, who got his start as a hair dresser, directed a number of other well-known porn films from the period, including The Devil in Miss Jones and The Story of Joanna. Like Radley Metzger, Damiano’s portrayal of female characters is generally positive and, in the case of Deep Throat’s Linda, represents a woman’s search for pleasure. Many of his films are highly recommended for fans of sex films and ‘70s cult movies. Deep Throat, in particular, is a must-see, simply for its cultural importance. Also RIP to Damiano, who passed away in 2008 at the age of 80 after a stroke. It's a shame he was never able to do a commentary track for Deep Throat, but a number of interesting interviews exist. 

Arrow Films released the movie on DVD, along with other ‘70s porn classics like Alice in Wonderland and Debbie Does Dallas as part of their fantastic cult cinema catalogue. I'm hoping that Deep Throat gets a restored version with special features sometime soon. I also highly recommend the recent documentary Inside Deep Throat. 

"The End. And Deep Throat to you all."

INSIDE DEEP THROAT

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