A gay old time

>> Pink Narcissus is grade-A queer erotica

by MATTHEW HAYS

Watching Pink Narcissus, one of the many bitchings of filmmaker and writer Bruce LaBruce rings so much more true. Gay porn, he opines, has become desperately conformist, repetitive and downright mundane. Everyone looks alike and does the same thing.

Not in '71, apparently, when Pink Narcissus was released. The film had an unremarkable release, but was discovered a year later, won over gay audiences worldwide and has maintained a cult following ever since. There ain't much of a plot. Basically, a stud-like character, Bobby Kendall, with lips and buttocks to die for, goes from fantasy sequence to fantasy sequence, meeting up with other men in bizarre and surreal sexual circumstances. There are plenty of erections, many stock gay iconic characters (that construction worker didn't start with the Village People, you know) and a cum shot that will make you wish they had Imax technology back then.

The men are beautiful. This is a dreamscape, one that riffs heavily on porn but also rides the last vestiges of '60s experimental filmmaking, in particular the work of Kenneth Anger. One sequence has Kendall (quite literally) making love to the earth. Seen as one with nature, our carnal hero is also seen at home in the big city, cruising all sorts of types on a self-consciously fake-looking city street.

This is such a gay movie (in the best sense of the word). The erotic is mixed with equal parts humour, Kendall is captured in all his bubble-butt glory, and the set and costume design look like the bizarre collaboration of Fritz Lang and Liberace.

Beyond being a sublime aesthetic experience, there's also an intriguing bit of history behind Narcissus. The film's credits list the director, writer and producer as "Anonymous," the assumption being that the man behind the film was worried about financial and legal repercussions from such a homoerotic bit of work. But last year, the Village Voice uncovered the mystery: costume designer/male-physique photographer James Bidgood, who removed his name from the film because of a conflict with the producer who, he felt, mis-edited the final cut. (Astonishingly, Bidgood shot the film over a seven-year period in his apartment.)

Venture to see Pink Narcissus. If this thing doesn't make you hard (or wet, depending on your gender), then nothing will. :

Pink Narcissus opens Friday, July 28 at Cinema du Parc