Pornografia

To describe this experimental and highly unusual short film by Murilo Salles and Sandra Werneck would be pointless and far too limited. It's exactly what the title says, it revolves on pornographic sequences of a couple having some performatic sex, but there's something extra being displayed at the same time. It comes with plenty of messages shown through many title cards, some of an explicit nature, others of a more poetic tone, and even some questions that deep thinkers will ask themselves about the film's purpose, its ideas and the ultimate result of everything.

The basics: a man and a woman perform sexual acts in front of the camera and in several positions, a graphic image just like porn is though filmed from a certain distance. No close-up shots, no money shots, it all feels like two performs delivering a real and artistic act, just like dancers on a stage.

During their act, a series of texts are displayed related with both sexual activity and intimacy, but also things related with art and society, etc. The one I remembered was "My little excitment is your great excitment" and that can be applied to many things. The Brazilian anthem is played as soundtrack - kind of funny inclusion but comes with a purpose. As this intersection of images, sounds and words puzzle audiences, the final credits are the ones to enlighten some minds and create confusion in others when the filmmakers detail about the short film's budget and how each cast and crew member were paid, the actual salary. That's what hit me the most, despite the exciting visual act.

What's obscene and what's obscenity when it comes to a film? The explicit sexual acts or the budget given to a film like this? None of those questions matter, gotta dig deeper and look at the historical context of when "Pornografia" was released. The early 1990's was a disastrous period for Brazilian cinema as a new political administration, apart from the countless corruption affairs that came to surface which led to the first presidential impeachment of a Brazilian president, simply ignored culture and arts, shutting down budgets and initiatives to bring new movies to the screen - as we don't have a private studio system like Hollywood, ours depend a great deal about public funding. Brazilian cinema was dead, with very few releases (Salles' brother was one of the rare to deliver a great feature in the period, his very first "A Grande Arte"). The shock and obscenity comes from the powers of be in dismantling culture, failing with the arts of all kinds and cinema was hurt the most. The money was there alright, but it went to different pockets and many people suffered with that, not just the arts.

One can debate this film merits and ideals, even complain about the budget given to it as something better could be made. One can feel offended by both the images and the cash spent on it. But there's no point to it. I see it as a crazed and fun outcry about the then current state of Brazilian cinema; perhaps the only way Salles, Werneck and Paulo Abrantes (who wrote the texts shown) could attract audiences to see it. I mean, sex sells. 7/10.