Thinking XXX

Synopsis

Photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders decided to do a series of portraits of some 30 porn stars. Two pictures of each, one clothed, one not, the same pose in both pictures. This is his documentary of that shoot. Scenes of the studio process are intercut with interviews with the various stars and talking-head moments from the likes of Karen Finley, Gore Vidal, John Waters and Whitley Streiber (!). We are at the other end of the porn spectrum from Dag Yngvesson’s Rated X – these are t…e top-paid performers, and so the overall experience is less depressing the world shown in Yngvesson’s film. (Though there is some inevitable overlap.) Many of the stars are very articulate (and not just from the expected sources such as porn star/activist Nina Hartley), and there is quite an interesting range of personalities and views presented here. Jenna Jameson is seen, but presumably was too expensive for an actual interview. Instead, she is talked about, and so accrues the semi-divine aura of an all-powerful, all-knowing, enigmatic Mona Lisa. One is left a bit wanting: one doesn’t learn very much about Greenfield-Sanders’ photographic process, and one wishes many of the interviews were longer and more in-depth. That said, a fascinating piece.

Audio

Once again I find myself having to rate audio in a context where such ratings are largely irrelevant. For what it’s worth, the dialogue is generally very clear, though there is the occasional bit of distortion, and at one moment some is cut off very suddenly and the voice flashes in distracting manner to the rear speakers. The music is fine, and there are a couple of surround sound effects (even though their placement isn’t entirely appropriate).

Video

There are a few grainy shots, but these are clearly due to the circumstances in which they were filmed, and not a flaw in the transfer. The image is very sharp, and the reproduction of the photographs is astonishingly good. The blacks are terrific, as are, as one would hope, the flesh tones. The other colours are just fine, too.

Special Features

I said above that I wished there were longer interviews. Said wish is granted in the extras, with more footage of all 30 stars, plus further interviews with the commentators. All of this is great, though this extra content is really more of the same, and doesn’t necessarily add much depth to the work, though the material is welcome. There’s a generous photo gallery, and footage of the exhibit’s openings in New York and Los Angeles. The menu’s main screen and transitions are animated and scored, and the secondary screens are scored.

Closing Thoughts

Interesting, worth seeing, but be careful where you slide the case out of it slip cover.

Special Features List

• Additional Footage/Interviews
• Slide Show
• Gallery Openings