Christine, ‘a nice girl’, gets a job selling tickets at a neighbourhood hardcore porn cinema. Intrigued by the porn films that play in a perpetual loop, Christine becomes involved in riskier and more risqué behaviour – following a regular customer (and underworld figure) around the city. Gordon turns the genre of the noir thriller on its head, and makes a female the investigator and the male the enigmatic figure.
With a script written by Kathy Acker, Variety explores ideas about voyeurism, obsession and desire, using pornography as a backdrop to weave those themes in a noir-like story about a woman who looks back. Gordon makes New York City a character in the film, and invades typical male spaces, like the Fulton Fish Market, Yankee Stadium, Wall Street. The film is also a sort of Who’s Who of downtown street cred: music by John Lurie, cinematography by Jarmusch collaborator Tom de Cillo, and production stills by photographer Nan Goldin.
Film details
Productielanden
United Kingdom, USA, West Germany
Jaar
1983
Festivaleditie
IFFR 2020
Lengte
100'
Medium/Formaat
DCP
Taal
English
Première status
None
Director
Bette Gordon
Screenplay
Bette Gordon, Kathy Acker
Cinematography
Tom DiCillo, John Foster
Editing
Ila von Hasperg
Music
John Lurie
Production company
Variety Motion Pictures
Producer
Renée Shafransky
Sales / World rights holder
Kino Lorber
Principal cast
Sandy McLeod, Will Patton, Luis Guzman, Richard Davidson, Nan Goldin