Search - The Pornographer on DVD

John C. (bookwheelboy)
Reviewed on 12/4/2007...

Very interesting.

A little long and boring which seems ironic considering

C. B Collins Jr. | Atlanta, GA United States | 08/09/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This film is certainly a mixed product. Some strenghts but more weaknesses.

A fifty year old pornograhic director comes out of retirement after many years of idleness supported by his architect wife. He tries to make a film but the younger directors and producers overpower his vision and produce a typical porno product. Jacques, the director, tries to make the film naturalistic with restrained dialogue, no fingernail polish, and restrained whimpers during sex rather than overacted screams of pleasure. He is quickly over-ruled and he quits the project.

This man has lost much and will lose more during the film. His first wife committed suicide, leaving him with a little boy. The boy discovers his father is a pornographer and leaves home. When his son returns, they have little to say. Eventually Jacques leaves his devoted wife and alienates his best friend and isolates in a single room writing and editing his random thoughts.

One redeeming aspect of the film however was a description by Jacques of his early career and work. He saw pornography as a political and social act in which he and his friends and girlfriends engaged. Thus pornography had a rebellious political and artistic overtone that became washed out through commercialization. This sentence helps explain why Jacques was considered to be a great film maker, even 30 years after he was in retirement. His films were alive because they were created with the political and social spirit of the times in which they were produced. They were works of art as well as pornography. Now Jacques does not have that same rebellious spirit. We are reminded of the nature of youthful, unrealistic, energetic, eutopian, rebellious, protest in the film when Jacques' son and his friends have the ultimate rebellion against society by becoming mute.

One thing to remember, this film actually contains a pornographic scene that is as explicit as any porno movie."

WELL DONE BUT KINDA OBVIOUS

Robin Simmons | Palm Springs area, CA United States | 07/21/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"

THE PORNOGRAPHER (Koch Lorber) is Betrand Bonello's explicit and controversial portrait of Jacques, a once famous and acclaimed -- but now burned out -- 50 year old pornographer from the 70s who tries to get back in the business of erotic films for the bucks.

However, he soon sadly discovers that he has lost his passion personally and professionally and must examine his own life and the trajectory that has brought him to this place. Jacques descends into a lonely isolation as he disconnects with his son, two ex-wives and finally himself.

Be warned, there's brief but very explicit sex.

"

Not That Bad

Joshua Miller | Coeur d'Alene,ID | 11/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe how many people on Amazon. com dislike this movie. Two Star Average Customer Review? Come on! I saw the preview for this movie on the DVD of Teorema. I wanted to see it for two reasons; the movie looked pretty, um, cool and the only movie I'd seen with Jean-Pierre Leaud
is The 400 Blows, a movie he did when he was 14. Now in his late-fifties/early-sixties Leaud is still a fine actor who hits all the right notes in his performance as an aging pornographer. Leaud plays Jacques, a pornographer that had a slew of hits in the seventies but has retired. He now has a wife and an adult son (Jeremie Renier, "L'Enfant") he rarely speaks too, but decides to return to making movies. Problem is, porn has changed since Jacques was making it and he's not able to make it the way he wants it too. As his world falls apart around him, Jacques begins to reexamine himself and, in the process, begins to lose his mind. The movie is actually a really good character study, although it sometimes takes itself to seriously. One part almost made me laugh, when Jacques is giving an interview to a journalist and is talking about a scene in which (I'm paraphrasing) "The scene where she came, brought tears to my eyes." The movie has probably got more attention for it's graphic sex scene than anything else. This scene (which occurs about 30 minutes into the movie) is graphic...But it's not. You see more of the guy than you do of the girl, in fact you really don't see anything of the girl. It is, technically, graphic...But "The Brown Bunny" had more nudity. A lot of the reviewers on here say the movie is dull. I didn't find it dull; I actually found it pretty interesting and thought provoking. It's no masterpiece, it's not in a league with masterpieces, it's not even the best look at the world of pornography, but it's definitely an underrated film.

GRADE: B-"