Genre:
Documentary, Erotica
Distributor:
Nucleus Films
Rating: 18
DVD Release Date:
13th April 2015 (UK)
Director:
Marc Morris,Jake West
Buy:Fifty Shades of Erotica
"'The Libertine' comes across incredibly, with wry humour and taste". This quote which plays at the end of the trailer for the erotic comedy The Libertine (1968), is taken from the society and fashion bible Harper's Bazaar - a magazine which would now unlikely admit the existence of such 'soft porn' films, let alone deign to give to give them coverage. But then tastes in film, and the media’s coverage of the arts in general, have changed in many ways since the heyday of the sex comedy and free love during the 1960s and 1970s. 50 Shades of Erotica, the new release from distributor Nucleus Films, - which opens by playing the full trailer for Italian director Pasquale Festa Campanile's The Libertine - highlights these changes in public mores by showing trailers for a series of erotic films from the 1960s to the modern day. Watching them now many, though considered controversial at the time of their release, would likely have difficulty raising an eyebrow let alone anything else amongst today's more 'sophisticated' audiences.
Take for instance The Story of O (1975) - a dramatisation of author Dominique Aury's shocking bestseller, the content of which could be seen as having more than a passing influence on the recent publishing phenomenon Fifty Shades of Grey and the copious copycat novels which have followed in the wake of its success. As with many of these kind of films - most of which would fall within the 'soft' as opposed to 'hard' core porn bracket - there is actually little, at least in the trailer, to cause offence: most what's on display is so shrouded behind silks, muslins and potted plants, that only the most desperate voyeur could find anything truly arousing. Instead the main purpose of this film, as with the others featured in 50 Shades of Erotica, is titillation. Those included also show that, even within the erotic film genre, the entries can be wide and varied, including such gems as the fantasy / Sci-fi adventure Gwendoline (1984), historical drama Justine de Sade (1972), the romantic Camille 2000 (1969) or comedic Frivolous Lola (1998).
Some films featured actors and actresses who's names like the productions they appeared in are lost to obscurity. Others starred personalities such as Pia Zadora (in the crime drama Butterfly (1982)) or Corrine Cléry (The Story of O) who went on to greater things: Cléry would later have a minor but memorable role as Hugo Drax's female assistant who comes to an unpleasant end in the James Bond adventure Moonraker (1979). The appearance of such screen legends as Charlotte Rampling, Dirk Bogarde and Orson Welles in films like The Night Porter (1974) and Butterfly, as well as lending the subject a degree of acceptability, also proves that no matter how big their star, actors and actresses are never afraid to try anything once if it brings them publicity or boosts a flagging career
You may question the legitimacy of a release which amounts to little more than two hours of trailers for some obscure films catering to viewers of entertainment with questionable content - highlighted by the popularity of such films as Salon Kitty (1976) - a classic of the 'Nazi Sexploitation' sub-genre - directed by Tinto Brass, or the notorious The Night Porter which mixed sadism with Nazi overtones. The placement of such films within period settings, could be seen as an attempt to make them acceptable as 'art'. That however is generally little more than an excuse, as they are mostly watched by audiences for the sole purpose of getting some form of sexual kick. However, considering that 50 Shades of Erotica is produced by Marc Morris and Jake West, the duo behind the recent documentary Video Nasties: Draconian Days (2014), a DVD thats aim is clearly to provoke debate should hardly come as a surprise, and should perhaps even be welcomed.
The DVDs extras includes a poster gallery of all the films featured.
