The Pornographer

2001
5.2| 1h48m| NR| en
Details

Jacques Laurent made pornographic films in the 1970s and '80s, but had put that aside for 20 years. His artistic ideas, born of the '60s counter-culture, had elevated the entire genre. Older and paunchier, he is now directing a porno again. Jacques's artistry clashes with his financially-troubled producer's ideas about shooting hard-core sex. Jacques has been estranged from his son Joseph for years, since the son first learned the nature of the family business. They are now speaking again. Joseph and his friends want to recapture the idealism of 1968 with a protest. Separated from his wife, Jacques strives for personal renewal with plans to build a new house by himself...

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Reviews

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System
GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.
Listonixio Fresh and Exciting
Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
lamegabyte Ah La France! The only country in the world where nobody respects rules especially those who makes them!Here I saw clearly Ovidie (just dressed with a red top) getting slammed by a man and then giving him a blowjob with his juice all over her face and it's not rated X! In addition, see the title and fact that the story is indeed about making a porn movie! Just because the old senile perverts in the commission found an iconic french actor (JP Leaud, the avatar of an iconic french director Truffaut) and that the movie is dubbed arthouse movie! and it's dubbed like that because it's the kind of movie in which the hypocritical elite tries to be scared: Pornography! usually it's a vice for the poor not for the well educated and born bourgeois!Well, at the end, X or not, it's still a french movie so a boring, useless, awful production... The only good point here is that Ovidie shows her talent but personnally i have never doubted her from what she did in her ... porn movies!
dans_la_lune This film marks the first time I saw a penetration scene on a basic cable channel. It's significant, if not technically or artistically amazing. It was in medium shot, and at first I thought it was more simulated softcore nonsense since the gentleman appeared to be positioned too far away during coitus. Turns out he was just impressively endowed.'Pornographe' turns in good performances from the actors, especially Leaud. He has the kind of homeopathic presence that made Sarah Polley famous. From a distance, the French national character appears understated, and quite reserved. Contrast that with the classic German, who is full of bluster, extroverted positivity, and usually neat as a pin. The English, finally, appear perpetually drunk and flooding the sidewalk with urine.The long meditative shots of trees were meant to convey atmosphere, but kind of made me feel like I was waiting at a bus-stop. A minor complaint - it's worth seeing.
graham clarke It's truly riling when a film reeking of self importance and supposed deep meaning is so obviously a total fake. There may have once been French films in which great existential truths were told with a particularly somber French seriousness. This must have made a lasting impression on many a future director who dreamed of one day putting some of their own deep truths on screen. This led to too many pretentious French films which really have little if anything of importance to say, other than some empty platitudes in the guise of a intellectualism. These films tend to give you the feeling of inadequacy. While others around are imbibing the pearls of wisdom you may sit dumbfounded wondering what it's all about. Don't be fooled for a minute by this hollow pretense."Le Pornographe" is a prime example. It's a total bluff and in cinematic terms a complete mess. Jean-Pierre Leaud trades off his legendary younger days as Truffaut's alter ego. This may lend a certain weight to the character, but again it's a mere cloak for the nothingness beneath. The actors are constantly brooding, with a vacant expressionless stare. This is not meaningful as director Bonello would want us to believe, it's simple a façade. Jeremie Renier, one of the more promising young French actors is wasted in this vacuous exercise.You might think a statement would be made about the nature of pornography, a subject begging out for a truly insightful cinematic investigation. But even that is skirted. What remains is an extremely irritating and decidedly boring film. Even the inclusion of two hard core (though distantly shot) sex scenes, both totally devoid of any eroticism, fails to inject some life into this abomination.Fakery of the very worst kind.
Shiva-11 Once upon a time, you grew old and grey working at a menial job for 35 or 40 years, until you received a handshake and a gold pocket watch. You then spent your retirement regretting not having done the things you dreamed of when you were younger, and with any luck, died in a few years. Oh, the good old days. Thanks to a struggling economy, and longer life expectancies, more retirees find themselves rejoining the workforce just to makes ends meet. Depending on your expertise, this can present some challenging situations.Jacques' blissful retirement is rudely interrupted by three little words: non-sufficient funds. Lacking a pension, he has to resume his old calling - directing pornography. For Jacques, the pornography business has changed for the worse (?): nobody is interested in artistic vision anymore or plots, all they want is to film the sex and get it to video as soon as possible. The barbarians! Strangely enough, the work gives him the courage to contact the son he never knew, and think about embarking on a new life.Although the movie revolves around a movie within a movie (the filming of a porn film), the bulk of the film is spent navel gazing, with the main character contemplating his life and place in the universe. Just as Jacques begins to emerge, he turns inward and becomes increasingly withdrawn, severing ties with everyone. While alienation can be used as a tool to entice an audience, neither the characters nor story in "The Pornographer" are strong enough to sustain our interest. The viewer is kept at arms length and never gets the opportunity to connect with the characters - I couldn't even commit to being blasé.What could have been an interesting, gripping story, is ultimately a pointless empty shell of a film. Nuff said.