Inside Deep Throat (2005)

by | Oct 4, 2005 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

Inside Deep Throat (2005)

Documentary by Randy Barbato & Fenton Bailey
Studio: Universal
Video: 1.85:1 widescreen
Audio: DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Extras: Commentary track by directors; “The Last Word for Now” = Bill
Maher, Erica Jong, Hugh Hefner, Wes Craven & others; The Binghamton
Trial (The first town to put Deep Throat on trial); Quincy House:
Poison Ivy League (Two Harvard students arrested for screening Deep
Throat)
Length: 1 hr., 30 mins.
Rating: ****

Documentaries are hot right now and this is one of the best of
them.  While most do astonishingly well in the theaters, it seems
somehow appropriate to distribute and view them on DVD.  For one
thing, the ability to include useful extra features is most attractive,
and this one has some worthwhile bonuses.  First, don’t worry
about an X rating on this – it’s rating NC-17.  But there are a
couple rather explicit short clips from the actual original film.
Probably a lot less than was shown to jurors at the various trials
against showing of the film.

The documentary, given two thumbs up by Ebert and Roeper, is a
fascinating treatment of the social and political hoohah dusted up by
this low-budget x-rated phenomenon.  (The director, Gerald
Dimiano, is asked in an interview if he thought Deep Throat was a good
film.  He responds, ‘Nahh.”) The film ended up being banned in 23
states.  The U.S. government zeroed in on hapless porn actor Harry
Rheems, who actually was originally hired to be on the crew shooting
the film. The film’s director and its star Linda Lovelace were ignored
and Rheems was sentenced to five years. Eventually the administration
and public mores changed and the Rheems indictment was reversed.

The interviews with the various people involved in the original film
are revealing and well done, and the clips from TV show appearances by
such celebrities as Hugh Hefner (called down by feminists on Dick
Cavett’s show for calling all women “girls”) are a kick to view. 
Of course with the variety of sources quality varies, but in general
the elements are put together in a skillful way that maintains interest
while exploring many aspects of this story that took on such a core
presence in the American psyche that the phrase became applied to an
entirely different and much more political phenomenon in Washington
D.C.!

– John Sunier

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