Shocking Truth

Thanks to the internet and cable TV, the flow of porn and erotic movies is more pulsating and accessible than ever. While there's been attempts sometimes to profile "erotic movies" as a quality product, done out of a wish to express the joy of sex, the staples of the trade are still commercialized and the content often very raw. Alexa Wolf's documentary, made for Swedish public TV in 2000 but relevant far outside Sweden, attempts to show up the exploitative sex flick business, by often disgusting clips from hardcore porno movies and interviews with actresses, models, producers and others in the trade. She makes some sweeping claims about porno movies just growing out of general male domination of society, but it also fleshes out the link between how women are portrayed in the media and in porn, and the suppressed fear or timidity many girls feel in ordinary life.

Many of the clips speak for themselves in their brutality, and the interviews are telling, not least by what is not said. Predictacly, she chose the worst she could find, and predictably, defenders of libertarianism claimed that 'you gotta take the girls' word for it when they say, they're doing this stuff because they like it and make easy money" ', and also branded Ms Wolf as a lesbian fanatic. Critics even alleged that Ms Wolf should have asked the producers and models of the porno reels for permission to use extracts from their works.

The film compares interestingly with Lukas Moodysson's "Lilja 4-ever" which is more cogent artistically but explores much the same ground. Both films also make the point that this is an international phenomenon.