PARK CITY, Utah – “Deep Throat” www.xxxdeepthroat.com, is still the most successful indie film ever made, a $25,000 (13, 276 pound) porn flick released in 1972 that might have grossed — no one really was counting — $600 million.
So what better place to premiere “Inside Deep Throat”, a film by Sundance veterans Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), than here at the king of indie fests? The documentary turns out to be an often provocative and perceptive look at the history of the porn business in America, the cultural wars the movie fed into and the lives of some who worked on the film.
Because forces on the right currently are galvanized for a renewed attack on civil liberties and freedom of expression, “Inside Deep Throat” is making a timely appearance. The film looks like another documentary box office winner.
When asked about the landmark film he made more than 30 years ago, director Gerard Damiano (aka Jerry Gerard) admits, “No, I don’t think it’s a very good movie.” Which has to be the most irrelevant fact one can state about “Deep Throat.”
A poorly shot, absurd sex comedy constructed around its star’s remarkable ability at fellatio, the movie opened in Times Square at the height of the war being waged by the counterculture and sexual-liberation movements against a belligerent establishment. Although Erica Jong’s comment that suddenly sex was out of the closet might be overstating things, the movie certainly marked the first time grandmothers stood in line to watch porn and talk show hosts and the New York Times could make references to a sex act, then considered illicit in some states, which few had any trouble understanding.
The movie traces several themes emanating from this cultural phenomenon. First there are the damaged lives of the film’s stars, Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems, an assistant cameraman drafted into the male starring role while on location in Florida. Then there is the growth of porn, which many filmmakers and artists saw as having artistic as well as commercial potential if it could cross over into the mainstream. That never happened.
The film also navigates through the legal and political battles this film and others faced, including a presidential commission’s investigation into pornography and society that roundly was ignored by the government when the commission reached the “wrong” conclusions.
For the most part, Bailey and Barbato succeed in weaving together these various themes thanks to smart editing by William Grayburn and Jeremy Simmons. Lovelace, who disowned the film in a memoir that claimed she shot it under duress, later seemed to embrace her former image in a sexy magazine layout. She died in an auto accident in 2002 broke, according to her sister.
Reems suffered federal prosecution. Although he prevailed, this sent his life into a downward spiral of alcoholism. Thankfully, he has recovered and lives in Park City, where he has a real estate license.
For interviews, the filmmakers astutely cast a wide net, bringing before their cameras people not always connected to the film yet with insight into the issues it raised. These talking heads include Norman Mailer, Helen Gurley Brown, Susan Brownmiller, Alan Dershowitz, Camille Paglia, Gore Vidal and Reems’ zealous prosecutor, Larry Parrish. A narration delivered by Dennis Hopper is unobtrusive, appearing only when necessary.
The salient poin is that “Deep Throat” can be seen as one of the first battles of the culture wars that still divide this nation. The choice of interviewees tilt the viewpoint heavily in favour of freedom of expression, yet both sides conclude that damage has been done and the wars are far from over.
There seems to be no middle ground on this issue, just as there never was any intersection between mainstream and porn. Such movies as “Last Tango in Paris” and, more recently, “9 Songs”, hint at the possibilities. But when an actor such as Reems can be hauled into court for accepting a movie role, it’s little wonder those possibilities remain unexplored.