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(More customer reviews)Enormously entertaining, and extremely enlightening, Inside Deep Throat is so much more than just a documentary on the 1972 skin flick Deep Throat. The film also presents - in often candid and lurid detail - the moral and censorship battles - that have constantly defined American popular culture for more than thirty years. In one pivotal scene, an elderly woman is asked why she went to see Deep Throat, and she replies by saying that she wanted to see a dirty movie, she enjoyed it, and that she didn't want government or anyone else dictating what she should or shouldn't see.
Herein lies the essential argument of this colorfully entertaining, sexually explicit, and occasionally perceptive movie that takes the viewer on a journey from the innocence of the early seventies, through the tumultuous, politically wrought censorship battles of the eighties, to the present day where the adult film business is now a multi-million dollar industry, and where professionalism and money seem to be the name of the game.
Inside Deep Throat uses a mixture of original footage from the film, interviews with the people who made Deep Throat, and questions a number of counterculture types, such as Gore Vidal, John Walters, and Annie Sprinkle, who comment on the effects of the film, past and present. Divided into two distinct parts: the first half is about the making of the film, while the second deals the ramifications of its release, the effect Deep Throat ultimately had on its stars, and the U.S. Government's desperate, and often successful attempts to have the film banned.
It's probably a bit of a stretch to say that Deep Throat single-handedly changed the nature of the industry. But the film definitely served a purpose and came along at a time when the sexual revolution was changing the way people thought about sexual activity. After hearing Johnny Carson's jokes about the movie on the Tonight Show - middle-aged, older, and intrigued suburbanites would line up at seedy theatres all across the country just to get a glimpse of Linda Lovelace's oral abilities. An act that had previously been considered an obscenity and socially forbidden, had now gained a glimmer of respectability- the New York Times even labeled the movie the new "porn chic."
Inside deep Throat does a great job of showing how the movie's fame and notoriety ultimately lead to the victimization and ill treatment of its stars. Linda Lovelace spent her life constantly vacillating between being proud of what she did, and later becoming a spokesperson for the feminist revolution against pornography by claiming that her performance in Deep Throat constituted rape. Approaching middle age and penniless, she desperately cashes in on her fame by appearing nude in an issue of Playboy.
Harry Reems, the hot, young male star who, at the last moment, shed his title as a production assistant to become the primary object of Linda's affections, initially enjoyed celebrity, but found fame and recognition fleeting. Deep Throat had branded him, and he found it impossible to be taken seriously as an actor. Harry faced serious jail time in a federal trial, and spiraled downwards into alcoholism and drug abuse when he couldn't get any conventional acting jobs.
Of course, the advent of the VCR in the late seventies meant that people could watch adult movies in the privacy of their own homes, and the moral crusade against hard-core adult entertainment in movie theatres somewhat tempered. Sharply edited, with a great sense of pacing, and often very funny, Inside Deep Throat is recommended for anyone who lived through the freewheeling, hedonistic days of the seventies. The movie also serves as a reminder that the culture wars, social morality, and issues of censorship are still as relevant today as they were thirty years ago. Mike Leonard February 05.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Inside Deep Throat - Theatrical NC-17 Edition (2005)
It was banned in 23 states. The government didn't want you to see it. Deep Throat was more than just a titillating curiosity, it was the sexually explicit film that ignited a social and political firestorm. Inside Deep Throat examines the politics and the payoffs, the porn stars and persecution of the cultural phenomenon that remains just as highly controversial today. From Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer comes this probing look at the sensational adult film that launched a sexual and cultural revolution.
Click here for more information about Inside Deep Throat - Theatrical NC-17 Edition (2005)
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