#destricted

⭐️1/2

Seven short Art house films that have been woven together in an attempt to explore the line where art and pornography intersect. I think the easiest way to critique destricted is to discuss each individual short. 

Hoist directed by Matthew Barney deals with a man who is part of an engine, or machinery, he gets off being a part of a bigger picture... it has some interesting visuals, but as much as I love to delve into deeper meanings and metaphors I struggled to understand this short. 

Balkan Erotic Epic directed by Marina Abramović is arguably the most amusing of the shorts, it’s certainly the only one that seems to have a sense of humour about it. It deals with myths from the Balkan which revolve around the sexual organs. While I wouldn’t say it’s fantastic it’s defiantly a highlight in this particular set. 

Sync directed by Marco Brambilla consists of very fast cuts from different porn films. It’s an interesting idea as the way it’s cut creates a false illusion of what’s actually happening on screen, but it’s also quite headache inducing and while visually interesting doesn’t really stand out. 

Impaled directed by Larry Clark is what I can only describe as “typical Larry Clark”, he puts a camera in front of some amateurs with a “script” or scenario and just films whatever happens to give it that “raw” or “realistic” touch... can you tell I’m not a fan of Larry Clark? It was interesting seeing a young man on the casting coach as oppose to a woman however. 

We Fuck Alone directed by Caspar Noé shows a man and a woman masturbating to the same porn film in seperate rooms, it’s (as you would expect from Noé) visually interesting, dark and oddly confronting despite the fact that it’s arguably one of the tamer shorts on here. 

House Call directed by Richard Prince is just a vintage sex scene that’s been re-edited with some new music... and it’s pretty dull. 

And lastly there’s Death Valley directed by Sam Taylor-Wood which is literally just about a man standing in the desert naked and masturbating.