Deep Impact

Michael Fox (probably not the), writing on The Pitch, calls Inside Deep Throat "a snappily paced, ceaselessly entertaining, moderately schizophrenic immersion into the life and times of the most infamous and lucrative porn movie ever made."

A cynic might describe movies as the most depraved and fantastic system of exploitation ever devised. After all, they trade on the greed and hubris of the financiers, the beauty and allure of the stars, and the trust (or, if you prefer, gullibility) of the audience. With a bit of tweaking, this thesis fits documentaries and pornography even better. The nonfiction films of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, though, are exceptions. In empathetic portraits of tarred heroines (The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Monica in Black and White) and now, in the irreverent yet unexpectedly poignant Inside Deep Throat, the duo largely succeeds in avoiding bothcynicism and exploitation.

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And the Red Vic, the worker-owned-and-operated movie house on Haight Street in San Francisco, has this blurb on its website.

Inside Deep Throat
Dir. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato US 2005
Bailey and Barbeto (Party Monster, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) are to tabloid filmmmaking as Ken Burns is to the historical documentary. Inside Deep Throat is an exploration into the cultural and political significance of the...er, seminal porn film Deep Throat. It was perhaps the most profitable film ever produced, and it started a long-lasting relationship between the mob and pornography. Opening in pre-Disney Manhattan in 1972, Deep Throat was one of the first X-rated films with at least a pretense of a story: a woman's clitoris is found in the back of her throat, thus allowing orgasm only by performing oral sex. Bailey and Barbeto track the rise of the films popularity -- it became a huge hit with the glitterati -- as well as its run-ins with the religious right, the legal system and the feminist movement. It also tells of the troubled lives of stars Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems. Lastly, Inside Deep Throat can be seen as a cautionary tale about our current administration's attitude towards free speech. (92m)