Destricted

Although i'm trying very hard, i can remember only three segments of the movie. This fact alone might give you an overall impression, despite the fact that i was mainly interested in their authors.

Marina Abramovic offered a pseudo-ethnographic study about the relation between sex and language, in particular bad language, in the Balkans. The result is a literal translation of curses into English. Try the same thing in a bar with friends and you'll get a couple of laughs, but no-one would call it art.

Matthew Barney was on the trail of his Cremaster series, with less costumes and plain mise-en-scène, though. What happened on screen was at the same time obvious and difficult to explain. In line with modern art where the act (masturbation) precedes the context (if any), it leaves you to read-in the meaning you might associate with it.

Larry Clark, on the other hand, made an audition for a porn movie. Due to it's sheer realism, this segment was the only one to make sense, but left me wondering why should i watch it instead of browsing the internet for free porn.

Art aficionados, in particular those into modern art, will probably love Destricted. Others would have other films to watch...

I came across Destricted via an interest in the films of Matthew Barney, most of which I have seen and enjoyed. What I discovered was an extremely mixed bag of films. Through from the ersatz-revelatory documentary of Larry Clark to Richard Prince's House Call, which is quite literally in my opinion, the porn equivalent of Meshes of the Afternoon (whether or not that's a good idea or not is another matter). I've rated the whole movie 6/10 but we're really moving from 1/10 to 10/10 during different segments.

I felt Marina Abramovic's segment "Balkan Erotic Epic" contained some sort of interest, but it felt more like an alternative school history lesson, and lacked any sort of cinematic virtuosity. Simply put the film is about Balkan sex superstitions of the past.

Sam Taylor-Wood's segment is quite simply a man masturbating in Death Valley, what is up with that? I'm sure something was going on for Sam but she quite simply left me almost devoid of context.

Matthew Barney film about a man (The Greenman) 'using' (I am not allowed to write the appropriate word due to the comment guidelines) the drive-shaft of a massive suspended truck is interesting more in concept than in adaptation for the screen where it becomes merely pornographic rather than a thesis on sexual energy. To be fair it's also ripped from the womb of Barney's film De Lama Lamina and is so out of context here that it makes little sense. The driveshaft was lubricated with the faeces of a golden lion tamarin. Those of a nervous disposition stay away!

Marco Brambilla's very short piece was entirely devoid of interest to me, a flutter-by of pastel-coloured porno shots. Perhaps he achieved entirely what he aimed for. It was not exactly engaging. Quite astonishingly this is the guy who directed Demolition Man.

Gaspar Noe's section 'We **** Alone' was perhaps the most interesting of all the films, sex in this piece seem like an adjunct of solipsism (if you want to take each of the individuals involved as masturbators then you can, but for me they are having sex, it's just that we are being shown a visual metaphor of that process, which Noe sees as narcissistic; indeed if you accept the duality then the film is quite potent). He makes the film both numbing and alluring through his use of strobe effects and his soundtrack of heartbeats, breathing, and a baby eerily crying. It's clear that he is also passing a judgement, artistically and politically, which I don't think any of the others achieved (although they may have attempted), specifically with his use of match-cutting with TV porn when he's showing the man.

With Richard Prince's 'House Call' we have another film that is sonically intriguing. The material is almost certainly found footage. But his added value is the way he manipulates it with sounds, in an astounding manner. The story of a woman having sex with a house-visiting doctor becomes psychosexual rather than merely pornographic.

I wouldn't recommend Destricted to anyone I know, because it is extremely sexually graphic and people I know would think I was a weirdo if I started talking to them about it. But if what I've said has piqued your interest, see it by all means.

I came across this compilation due 2 directors that I knew and have in my collection. Larry Clark, controversial due using kids picked up from the street and let them do things normal kids won't do or are forbidden to do. His most famous flick is Kids (1995° made in the grunge heydays and Ken Park (2002) were a teenager goes down beneath the mother of his friend to give her some pleasures. A lot of viewers were shocked and the film was never released in the US.

The other director is Gasper Noé which I knew due made also some controversial flicks like Irréversible (2002) and Enter The Void (2009).

Both directors are always on the edge of explicit forbidden nudity (Clark with 18 year old girls going full frontal and Noé by showing a rape going on for minutes) but here in Destricted they go beyond that together with some other directors.

This compilation is called an art-erotic flick but all i can say is that some were indeed art, one short flick is just a fast editing, cut every second of porn flicks. you just don't see anything but it works. To be honest, it only clocks in over 2 minutes and it's worth seeing for the editing alone. But the rest isn't art at all. Maybe Noé's entry is a bit arty. But it's pure porn for minutes made with a strobo. But it's downhill with the art from here. For example Clarks entry clocks in at 39 minutes and it's just guys talking about porn. One guy is ready to talk with porn actresses and while talking to the girls they take of their clothes talking what they do best. But one of the girls wants to show the 22 year old one what it's all about so she seduces him and asks to undress. From their on the guy doesn't know what is going on, first she gives him a blow job, then he may go inside her and even goes in her brownie, then he may do what he wants to end with another blow job.

The worst entry is the Death Valley part, 9 minutes of jerking off and that's it, is that art?

The other entries except for the Balkan story are pure porn. The Balkan story is a bit funny to hear and see and isn't believable even as it is true what the girl is saying.

Overall pure porn here and there and a bit of art. Kleenex lovers will enjoy some parts but again people who thought like me to see an art compilation as promised will be shocked. Hard core it is.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 0/5 Comedy 0/5

Most of the films in this collection are simply silly. One is at least artistic in the old, wan sense of visual oddity.

There is one interesting one, though. Larry Clark's "Impaled." Its rather clever: young men seeking to get into the "business" are interviewed. All of them are sad losers and that saddest sack of the bunch is selected. He then interviews several women to select the one he wants to screw. They are all pros, and their stories and manner are every bit as sad, but posthope instead.

He selects the oldest; she obviously tries the hardest to entice him. She's 40 and desperate to appear alluring. If we had nothing but her manner, we'd have enough to damn.

He's most excited about anal sex. He ends up getting defecated on, but they soldier on until the end.

Its a great take on the ugly behind of the industry.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Certainly politically correct, that is a danger sign in any film. Politically correct by focusing mostly on men and porn. This film was almost just like any other porn film. The tiny difference being the "art". Strobe light was the "art" in We f...ck alone (it was way too long. I got the "message" after 5 minutes). The "art" in Death Valley was none what so ever. Just a guy masturbating outdoors. I read on IMDb that the "art" was the fact it was shot in that particular valley. If you use your imagination, you can see art in everything. That is wonderful. Hoist was least like a porn, but 15 minutes of a man rubbing his penis to a machine shaft was OK ("art" and everything) for 5 minutes. In the film Impaled we saw the audition room instead of the "bed". It was amusing to see the young guys expressing their sexual desires. The "art" in Impaled was the bad lighting. I would have chosen the virgin. I went to the film expecting nothing, and I got nothing. A man cannot ask for more on a night at the movies.