I saw Deep Throat on video a while ago - it was OK, with some shoddy camera work and sound, Linda Lovelace was pretty and the humour very gaggy, excuse the pun - it wasn't really erotic (compared to say The Devil in Miss Jones). But it had a great gimmick, a great title and it came along at the right time and was a sensation. This excellent documentary covers the making of the film and its impact on society. The usual suspects are trotted out to comment - Hugh Hefner, Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer - but the most interesting characters are the retired porn industry veterans: the director living in Florida with very high pants, the creepy production manager, the Florida distributor whose wife is a dead ringer for George Costanza's mother off 'Seinfeld', the guy who worked for the Mob.
For moments this film falls into the People vs Larry Flynt/Boogie Nights of 70s porn nostalgia, with easy villains like Nixon and Charles Keating and southern prosecutors. But there is no denying other things: Lovelace's anti porn crusade of the 80s, the fact the film was financed by the mob who then took over complete ownership of the film, the complaints of feminists, the addictions of Harry Reems, the booming adult industry today. This makes it fascinating.
The saddest character is Linda Lovelace - what a beautiful, tragic figure. Harry Reems is a riot - porn star turned freedom crusader turned buddy with Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty (who else?), turned addict turned Christian.
The documentary is well made and well resourced (Brian Grazer produced it) with a terrific sound track.
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