Film Screenings / Programs / Series
IN THE FLESH: PORN NOIR
March 27 – March 30
Anthology’s groundbreaking new series IN THE FLESH explores the period affectionately known as ‘porno chic’ (1972-75), when sexually explicit films mixed hardcore sex with top-notch production values and compelling stories, with every screening featuring appearances by filmmakers, performers, or crew members, as well as critics, scholars, and other participants in the ‘Golden Age’ of adult cinema.
Inaugurated in December, IN THE FLESH continues in March with a quartet of films exploring the darker side of the classic adult film genre, featuring tough-talking private eyes, deviant rapists, shadowy blackmailers, and existential crises. Throughout the 1970s, adventurous adult film directors paid homage to their favorite film noirs with updated X-rated versions of classics like LAURA (1944) and SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950). The sexual tension created between noir anti-heroes and seductive femmes fatales could now be embellished and visualized, to the delight of both the raincoat crowd and cultured moviegoers. In addition to creating porno variants of acknowledged film classics, filmmakers began to step outside of established boundaries and challenge audience expectations. Dark and disturbing features assaulted viewers with increasing levels of violence, degradation, and horror. This decadent debauchery created a new form of noir within the genre, often referred to as ‘roughies’. Experimentation in the dark and the mysterious continued into the 1980s, before video rendered film and its genre artistry practically obsolete. We are proud to present four unique and compelling examples of ‘porn noir’, emerging from the shadows to provide you with a rare opportunity to see them theatrically, as they were intended to be seen.
All four one-time-only screenings will be from 35mm prints and presented by special guests who will provide revealing glimpses into the making of the films as well as the general adult film ‘Golden Age’ in New York.
Curated by Casey Scott. Special thanks to Steven Morowitz (Distribpix) and Joe Rubin (Vinegar Syndrome). A very special thank you to Larry Revene for his continued support of this series.
