The Pornographer

Plot

Jacques Laurent made pornographic films in the 1970's and '80's, but had put that aside for 20 years…

Release Year: 2001

Rating: 5.6/10 (1,066 voted)

Director:
Bertrand Bonello

Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jérémie Renier, Dominique Blanc

Storyline
Jacques Laurent made pornographic films in the 1970's and '80's, but had put that aside for 20 years. His artistic ideas, born of the '60's 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…

Cast:

Jean-Pierre Léaud
–

Jacques Laurent

Jérémie Renier
–

Joseph

Dominique Blanc
–

Jeanne

Catherine Mouchet
–

Olivia Rochet

Thibault de Montalembert
–

Richard

André Marcon
–

Louis

Alice Houri
–

Monika

Ovidie
–

Jenny

Laurent Lucas
–

Carles

Ségolène Savoff
–

Titof
–

Franck

Marcelo Teles
–

Violetta Sanchez
–

Nadia Nataf
–

Thomas Blanchard
–

Release Date: 14 September 2001

Box Office Details

Budget: FRF 7,000,000

(estimated)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

User Review

Too bad sex sells

Rating: 6/10

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.