For your information, the Philadelphia Film Festival had 61,000 people attending the 2 week event, with 240 films from 43 different countries shown. The whole thing is put on by the Philadelphia Film Society, which has worked hard to bring foreign and independent films to the city. They had two screenings of 'Anatomy of Hell', one of which sold out.

I think Americans (who like foreign films) like certain French films better than French people like certain French films. Why this is, I don't know. But, for whatever reason, foreign and indie films are very popular in Philadelphia. We even have the Ritz 16-theater multiplex here in the suburbs that shows nothing but these kinds of films, and it's packed nearly every weekend.

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Lori

PS: Many fans of independent cinema skip theatrical releases and wait to catch the films on DVD to take advantage of the unrated deleted scenes, etc. so those tend to do less well at the box office.

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Many Americans have heard of Jenna Jameson and Ron Jeremy, they're our version of porn icons.

I read somewhere recently, that people all over Italy, especially men, are very proud of Rocco and his accomplishments. Is that true?

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I've seen two of Breillat's films, 36 Fillette and Romance , and I feel that she does a decent job of showing how women feel about sex - that it can be pleasurable and complex and disturbing, both on a physical and emotional level. Perhaps this viewpoint doesn't appeal to many men, who would rather see sex portrayed as a type of physical sport, like soccer or tennis.

Soljaris - The greater Philadelphia region has 4 million people in it, so 61,000 is 1.5% of the population. Yes, far more people go to see "The Matrix" or "Lord of the Rings", but there is still a market for the foreign/indie films among the people in the city. I would estimate that perhaps 100,000 persons like these kinds of movies, and go to see them on a regular basis, based on the 32 movie screens that play these films here every weekend (that doesn't count universities or film societies that also show these films).

So Siffredi is thought of as a 'terrone' (from the word 'terror'?) by the people in Northern Italy? Is it because in his porn films, he is rather impulsive? I've seen him arguing with Teo Roccaforte and his cousin Gabriel, though he also jokes around with them a lot.

Isn't Siffredi from Abbruze, on the Adriatic? I know that's not the same as being from Milan or Turin or Florence. I don't think I've ever met anyone from Northern Italy. I once worked with a woman whose parents were from Rome, and this woman was rather quiet and serious.

I have worked with a lot of Italian-Americans, since my workplace is in South Philadelphia, the traditional home of the Italian community here, and I suppose most of these people are Southern Italian. But it's not true that they are either gangsters or pizza makers; they do a lot of different kinds of jobs. And they're not all talkative or argumentative - some are quiet and thoughtful; there's a real mix of personalities.

It does seem like many of these particular Italian people are reluctant to live outside South Philadelphia. They don't like going to a church or a pizza restuarent unless it's the one right in their neighborhood. So this district is more like a lot of little villages. Many of the homes have rose bushes in the garden, and often a small statue of the Virgin Mary (that's how you know you're in the Italian part of South Philly, not the Irish or Polish or Black part).

Just so you know, there are plenty of Italian-Americans who are doctors or lawyers or professors. I don't know if they have heard of Siffredi or not.

From my years of working in South Philly, I am certain of one thing - never anger an Italian woman, you will pay a high price for doing this. She and her friends will make your work life miserable. On the other hand, treat an Italian woman with respect, and she will be loyal to you for life.

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-T.C.

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If the jury at this Phila. film festival gave 'Anatomy of Hell' top honors, than the film must have had a good storyline with above-average acting and editing. These jury members aren't your average moviegoers, these are film buffs who's major interest is in the finer points of cinema.

That the critics and moviegoers in France have problems with Breillat and her films - this is a problem for the people of France, not for the people of Philadelphia.

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That's the point. In order to show hardcore sex in mainstream movies, it has to be dirty or painful like in Breillat movies or Vincent Gallo latest. As if only in porn, people enjoy fucking.

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You could give Siffredi a guided tour of Philadelphia, if you and he ever visit the city. Don't forget the soft pretzels and the Tastycakes!

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Of Breillat's work I've only seen Romance and that was a while ago. I don't believe that Romance as a film was a vehicle for the sex scenes it included. The sex scenes are there because they depict steps along a journey of self discovery that the female character Marie takes. Some of those steps are not joyous or happy.

My recollection of the sex scenes with Marie and Paolo (Rocco)are that the script called for them to appear to be enjoying what they were doing. Marie's encounters with Robert the headmaster appear to have been scripted in the same way. I don't think I've ever seen anyone bound and gagged so lovingly before or since.

Those scenes provide contrast with her scene on the stairs and even with the sterile non-encounters with her "lover" Paul.

But the wild things cried, "Oh please don't go- we'll eat you up-we love you so!" Where The Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

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Perhaps these two French women weren't quite prepared for the difficulty of shooting nude sex scenes (though there is no real penetration or ejaculation in them). Perhaps Siffredi is not himself comfortable in scenes where he is not in total control, unlike in his own porn films, where he controls who he hires and what they do, particularly the porn actresses. Perhaps the problem is partially to do with the French actresses being from bourgeois backgrounds, while Siffredi is from a small rural town in Italy, from a working class background.

Let's face it - what do Siffredi and these two French women have in common? Even I can see that Siffredi has been doing porn so long, that he has become unaccustomed to being around non-porn women. If you watch the casting call in 'Rocco Invades Poland', you can see what happens when he meets women who are unfamiliar with the porn world. He can't believe these Polish women have never heard of anal beads, and the Polish women can't understand why someone would want to shove a bunch of plastic beads up their ass.

All this being said, I still consider the Rocco/Marie sex scene in Romance to be one of the best 5 minutes of film that I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Between the fine camerawork, lighting and acting (the tension between the characters is almost palpable), it all adds up to making the scene memorable. Is the sex fun and happy? No. Is it filled with intensity? Yes, far more than 90% of the porn scenes I watch, that generally have the intensity of a children's TV cartoon show, even though you the viewer are watching real people having real sex.

Edited by - Renee on 4/30/2004 10:32:30 AM

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-T.C.

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The sex scene in Romance is simulated, although both performers are nude, and Rocco has an erection. It took five hours to rehearse/film those five minutes, and I don't know how long to edit. The truth is, the viewer here is not watching real sex, he/she is watching the depiction of sex between two fictional characters, who are following a written script (down to what Rocco/Paolo is saying during the supposed penetration of Marie), filmed by an accomplished cinematographer, and directed by a woman who at that point had been working in the French film world for 20 years or so.

Different from what you do - presenting real couples having real sex - and what the majority of porn films do, that is presenting people paid to have sex with each other in front of a camera, whether they know each other or not.

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I can only imagine how incredibly difficult and frustrating it is to try to capture something magical that has both the elements of tension and heat, as well as those of affection, joy, and giddiness that's going to uplift a viewer with good feelings and inspiration, rather than depress them by seeing something they don't care about, or will never have.

Hell it's difficult enough to do this in a written story, where the writer truly has absolute control over the environment (short of what the reader brings to it). And porn, with its quantity over quality mentality and the brutal ecomonics that support that practice, along with the need to work with performers who might be great fucks, but are sub-par actors just has to make the creation of something really special a near impossible task.

I still hold out hope, however, that people like you, Tony, will step up to the plate, and keep trying. As a viewer, I'm not necessarily interested in all happy happy, joy joy all the time. Just as in real life, the characters on the screen have to be excited and energized by often oppositional stimuli. This is why role playing is such a powerful device in sex. The problem with today's porn is that happy role-playing is being subverted by a growing interest in the authentic depiction of rapist fantasies and mean spirited humiliation. To me, the difference is night and day, and while there may be some merit in those kinds of fantasies and depictions for various people, I'm troubled that there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of counterpoint to it.

In any case, I have enough happy happy joy joy in my real life that I don't need that particular brand of escapism to find it. But I'm ALWAYS interested in tension. . . in a context that excites me, or at the very least something I can RELATE to when I see the characters feeling it on screen. Doing this kind of thing, while at the same time shooting explicit sex in today's environment must be an absolutely maddening challenge.

But I'm really just rambling now. I don't know anything.

I am interested to see this Romance scene that Renee and Loraine are talking about now, though... :)

Edited by - MLyons on 4/30/2004 12:18:29 PM

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I emphathised with and cared about what happened to Marie in Romance for lots of reasons. I wanted her to enjoy herself sexually and liberate herself from her loveless relationship. That was the beauty of the script.

In Marie and Jack, A Hardcore Love Story, I cared about those two having a good time because as corny as it sounds they just seemed nice. Through their dialogue I enjoyed their enthusiasm for each other. I think their obvious enjoyment of each other is what created the heat in your film TC. They are appealing people who I can emphathise with.

There's very little tension though and that may be the inherent difficulty in filming real life established couples with no script to provide the tension. It's also the reason that as strange as it sounds, it's quite difficult to write hot erotica about two people primarily having loving sex. Most fiction works on the basic storyline of tension created by some kind of conflict that is eventually resolved. Without the tension you have to work very hard at making the characters so appealing or their story so compelling that we care about them even in the absence of tension.
For me witnessing the genuine pleasure and joy of real people having real sex is compelling enough Tony, combine it with an interview that allows me to know them a little and I'm happy. (When are we going to see your film in the making?)

It's late now and I'm rambling…

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While this works to a degree, it is also my bitterest disappointment with M&J. I've never intended to create an apologia for sex workers or sex work. I also knew that when another crisis hit the sex industry, Marie and Jack's testimony was going to look a little naive, as would I for presenting such an optimistic portrayal. If I had it to do over again, I'd avoid all mention of their vocation and concentrate on revealing more about the taste, smell, and feel of being in love, and the emotional bond that passionate sex is both born of and (ying yang!) fosters .

In spite of this, I'm still proud of M&J. It represents a lot of hard work and good intentions. It doesn't ask the audience for too much forebearance, and is significantly less insulting to all parties involved than nearly all other sexually explicit video. There's a plenty to build on, and I have lots of ideas how to improve on it. Some of them may bear fruit.

-T.C.

(spelling, word choice)

Edited by - TonyC on 4/30/2004 2:42:37 PM

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You can rent "Romance" from Netflix.com, sometimes they let you have some free rentals if you don't already belong to them.

The sex scene in Romance has some tension in it due to a couple of reasons. 1. Marie is essentially looking for a one night stand, but doesn't give into Rocco/Paolo right away when she meets him. She makes him wait until they get together. She also doesn't do what he asks her to do sexually when they first meet up. 2. The two characters aren't being truthful to each other, although the viewer can see through their lies quite easily. 3. Rocco/Paolo does not want to wear a condom, but Marie insists on it. This is one of the rare occasions where one sees Rocco all suited up.

One of the few times I've felt this sort of tension in a Rocco porn film is the last scene of "Rocco Invades Poland". There is a shy woman called Elizabeth who is having second thoughts about doing the scene. Rocco is surprised to find out that she is nervous. He gets somewhat flustered as he tries to figure out what to do. He thinks she's afraid of him because he's Italian; she finally admits she's afraid because he's too big. He gets her clothes off, but when he turns to another girl, he tells Elizabeth, "Stay there, don't get dressed!" After a few more minutes, he finally (the big jerk) figures out that she is shy, and that he better go slow with her, or she's going to bolt out the door (and he'll lose the footage he's already shot). He does from that point on treat her more gently than he usually does with the typical Euro-Babe that populates his films. So, in this case there is some tension as you the viewer wonder if Elizabeth is going to finish the scene or not, and how much she will be willing to do.

For my taste, this was more interesting than seeing the typical Euro-Babe who effortlessly does anything, while she lays there with a bored look on her face, waiting for her next cigarette break.

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The tension is seemingly and delightfully resolved. For me their passionate lovemaking serves as confirmation of that. That's the compelling story.

I guess what I'm trying to say about the nature of working with loving established couples in the absence of some kind of made up script (this is equal parts assumption and conjecture on my part - I don't make films) is that to a large extent you're working with a subtle kind of tension, and one that's possibly already resolved. It's a sophisticated kind of filmmaking that can tell that kind of "story".

Cheers,
Loraine

Rocco's character in Romance also serves as the direct contrast to Paul in a very non subtle way...and what the heck...he's got some kind of "movie star" appeal.

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On your recomendation, I'll give it a try. But if I end up angry and sad, I'm holding you personally responsible.

-T.C.

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The movie has a sort-of happy ending, at least for Marie.

You might be interested in it from a cinematographer's point of view. The film got funding from the French Society of Cinematography, and to my eye, it shows. Also, the set designs and colors are rather appealing, in a minimalist/ modern Japanese sort of way. I felt the movie had a good look to it.

And it was a pleasure to see Siffredi on film, not video (especially as his own movies have awful lighting, to the point that it can be difficult to figure out what the hell is going on). He does have a strong screen presense, like Russell Crowe has, that smoldering undercurrent that adds to the depth of a performance. Plus, the script has Marie saying some wry, amusing things to Siffredi, things you would never hear a real porn actress say to an porn actor/director.

I didn't feel the least bit sad after watching Romance, and that's saying a lot for a French film. Did you ever notice how in French cinema , the people love to wallow in the meaninglessness of life, while sitting in cafes and smoking the umpteenth cigarette of the night. It's a wonder they don't all kill themselves. Even the comedy "Amelie" poked fun at all this wallowing in the cafes.

Edited by - Renee on 4/30/2004 9:42:06 PM

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