Inside Deep Throat (18)

Directed and written by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato
Screening at FACT from 24th June - 7th July 2005

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

This less than fascinating film documentary resembles something TV Channel Five would put out around about midnight.

Anyone expecting to see full on sex scenes will be disappointed - there is only one explicit action shot when Linda Lovelace shows her capacity to swallow deep a big penis. What a claim to fame!!

Deep Throat, made in 1972 for only $25.000, grossed $600m with the Mafia - as the documentary points out - raking in a lot of that money through the exploitation of cinema owners and film distributors.

The release of the film, and subsequent outrage by religious groups, feminist associations, the FBI, and the right wing media in the USA, inevitably led to a major increase in the production of porn movies.

In 2003 over 11,000 porn films were released in America alone, and that is not taking into account the many others that are made but, for what ever reason, not included in the 'official list'.

Among the people wheeled out to give their views on the film are Norman Mailer and a mix of people involved in the making of Deep Throat - it did not make for an edifying spectacle. They said this and they said that....but in the end they were talking about a grubby little film which has not stood the test of time.