Naughty! (1971)

A mondo-esque British pseudo-documentary on attitudes towards pornography at the height of the “sexual revolution,” and throughout history.

The seemingly-genuine footage of red-light districts in London and Amsterdam is awesome to behold if you get a kick out of such things.  Also intriguing is a series of behind-the-scenes interviews with organizers and guests at Amsterdam’s “Wet Dream Film Festival.”  Among those in attendance: Screw publisher Al Goldstein (who comes off as surprisingly articulate and far less slimy than he would later present himself) and, surprisingly, Germaine Greer (who unfortunately doesn’t get much of a chance to speak.)

These relatively sincere elements contrast sharply with a decidedly goofy subplot about a Victorian-era family man who revels in pornography and prostitution when he’s not busy chastising his son for masturbating.  These segments devolve fairly quickly into cynical sleaze, eclipsing any educational agenda the filmmakers might have had.

The existence of films like this one is a curious byproduct of the semi-outlaw status of sexually explicit material in this pre-Deep Throat era.  One way to get around charges of obscenity was to pretend to be presenting a philosophical position on the sexual revolution.

And, despite the filmmakers’ obvious commercial intentions, there were philosophical points to be made.  Although AIDS and Reagan-style puritanism combined to crush the sexual revolution in the 1980s, films like this one remain fascinating relics of a time when porn was a cultural statement.  Recommended, though more as a piece of history than for any particular merit.

Give it a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRcTyTFvFjk

 

 

Natural Enemies (1979)

A middle aged magazine publisher calmly decides to kill himself and his family.

A deliberately paced, depressing character study. Hal Holbrook is so good in the lead role that you almost forget that his character is a pompous, self-absorbed misogynist, while Louise Fletcher is excellent as his long-suffering wife. These fine performances probably save the film from falling apart, but there is a lot to recommend here just the same.

The film offers a potent critique of traditional relationships between men and women, and although I’m not sure if either writer/director Jeff Kanew or source-novelist Julius Horowitz intended it to be this way, it does so from a decidedly feminist perspective.

Holbrook, as Paul Steward, embodies every notion of the man as sole provider for, and protector of, the family, and of the “strong, silent” type.  He admits to being mystified by the opposite sex, and seems completely unable to relate to his wife as a fellow human being; her suffering only becomes an issue when it inconveniences him, and he is utterly oblivious to his role in causing it.

The film is vague as to whether the massacre actually happens; my interpretation is that it does, but the film offers us a glimpse of an alternate possibility if Steward had reached out to friends (including a standout turn from Jose Ferrer as a holocaust survivor) for help, or perhaps just tried talking to his wife, instead of bearing all the responsibility himself.

On the less-positive side, the film veers uncomfortably into kitsch as Holbrook cavorts with a quintet of prostitutes while expounding upon his history of marital problems and his pretentious, angsty worldview.  As alluded to above, if anyone other that Holbrook played this role, the character would have been completely insufferable, which would have compromised the film’s watchability.

As it stands, Natural Enemies is a flawed, but intriguing and expertly-acted film.  Recommended.

Give it a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlLgTo59PVc