The Pornographer (1999)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Having had a repressed upbringing where sex was taboo and never discussed, Paul's first contact with porn both disgusted and aroused him. In his mid-twenties he is insecure around women, has a large porn collection and regularly uses prostitutes and attends strip bars. Having had zero luck with recent attempts to get a date, Paul falls deeper into porn and gets critical of its low production values on the whole. Buying a camera, Paul starts to make his own porn movies with prostitutes and a male friend and decides to take his videos to a production company – however offers of a contract seem to depend heavily on Paul bringing a fresh, unfilmed girl with him to the studio.This film was put on late night Friday on channel 5 in the UK – a slot that is usually filled with cheap softcore movies with vague plots and were it not for the reasonably interesting plot summary I would have just ignored it as with so much trash. In terms of softcore action there is a fair amount of nudity but it would be unlikely to satisfy those looking for cheap thrills because, although it looks low budget, it has nothing in common with the pure titillation stuff. This left it open to be a lot more interesting and morally complex and it does do that reasonably well even if it isn't totally convincing in the way that the plot still tries to be a narrative in its own right. It is the story development that is a problem but it still lingers in the murky and rather shameful world of porn long enough to have value as an interesting film on the subject even if it fails to go deep enough into the material or the characters to really stick in the memory.The direction is pretty cheap and not that interesting; his writing is good but his budget never allows him to make it look like more than it cost. The cast is limited as well although some of them are good. DeGood is interesting and his narration helps his performance rather than replacing it – also, it isn't his fault that the material develops his character too quickly and in unlikely ways. Wasson is basic but effective while Cain is sweet and clumsy (an effect that is either deliberate or caused by her not being that good, not sure which but it works either way). The rest are very much video actors and felt clunky; this didn't damage the film that much though because it already had a low budget feel.Overall the film had enough murkiness and comment to be of interest and it is this aspect that you will enjoy. The narrative is little more than a frame but at times the film makes the mistake of making that the focal point and loses sight of the themes within it. Add to this a low budget feel in terms of acting, directing and sets and it is hard to take it totally seriously. Worth seeing once though for what it does well.

Simply put, I saw this movie on Cinemax late one night. I thought for sure with a title like The Pornographer I would be looking at an entirely different kind of picture. I loved it. I especially noticed Monique Parents performance which was believable and wonderful! She hasn't been able to show off her talent that often in most of her films. I would say see this picture... expecting something different and you will love it.

This movie is hysterically bad. Complete with stereotypical characters, bad acting and a total lack of plot, this movie will keep you laughing for hours. My favorite part is when Paul (the "artistic" protagonist porno director) gets into a fight with a girl and then runs to his closet full of porno movies and tears it apart. Imagine the world's biggest hissy fit in a closet, and you've pretty much got the idea. Also enjoyable is the Spano character (the porno boss). Spano is happy and helpful one minute, cartoonishly vengeful the next. If this movie were good, it would star Mark Wahlberg and be called "Boogie Nights." Watch "The Pornographer" for laughs, watch "Boogie Nights" if you want to see how it should have been done.

The Pornographer is a pleasantly surprising movie. Contrary to its name, it is not a pornographic film, nor even a chincy hard R. Rather it is an insightful movie about a man who toys with the idea of making adult films.This movie helps communicate more about the too little (seriously) explored male experience, just like Swingers did. Consequently, I disagree with some of the other posters' evaluations of the main character's lack of social ability.With regards to sexually attracting women, young males often experience forms of frustration, humiliation, and insatiable, unfilled longing--unbeknownst and probably incomprehensible to most women who grew up with the privilege of being able to attract decent, fairly attractive members of the opposite sex with comparatively little effort and (little more than passive) risk of rejection. I know that the indignation and sense of injustice that I felt over how unbalanced the distribution of sexual power is scarred me for life. I am certain that it has had a significant (though publicly unacknowledged) negative effect on most men's psyches, even if the men were unable to identify it or verbalize it.If you think that the main character is socially inadept, then you have missed an important part of the movie's context. The protagonist, Paul Ryan, is a typical twentysomething who lacks Don Juan's confidence and charm, an MBA, MD, Harvard Law degree, or high paying computer science job. Most young males have difficulty sexually attracting decent women with regularity. The protagonists' experiences at asking women out for a date were very ordinary and sadly all too commonplace.If he truly lacked social skills he would have had difficulty fitting in at a high-powered law firm and his character would not have seemed as endearing to us. He did not seem to have difficulty talking to women; he just did not have the desire to expend large amounts of effort attracting them.In the film he explained that he was satisfied with prostitutes, but as his character develops he comes to realize that he desires an actual romantic relationship and not just sex. The real tragedy of this movie is that his past experiences and propensities kept him from seeing the forest for the trees. He could have had a real relationship with Kate, and I think he wanted to, but he was so fixated with breaking into the world of pornographic film that he turned her into a business opportunity. I get the feeling that, as a result of his previous frustrations, he was almost unable to conceive of the possibility of his having a relationship with her, which is real sad.The film raises an interesting question. Why didn't he enter into a romantic relationship with Kate instead of trying to push her into the world of pornographic film? Had he completely given up on women? Was he just determined to succeed as a pornographic filmmaker at any cost-even the heavy cost of foregoing a real relationship? Or was he unable to conceive of it?The movie raises another interesting question that the filmmaker may not have intended to raise. Do men perceive a significant difference between (1) paying women for sex, which seems like a straightforward and honest undertaking and (2) asking, begging, bending over backwards to please women in the hopes that they will one day agree to go to bed with them, risking rejection and spending the same money (while investing much more time) wining and dining them? Is it possible that, for some frustrated men like the protagonist, he may have found more satisfaction and less degradation with prostitution?This movie was good for the aforementioned reasons. However, in light of these questions, I wonder what the movie would have been like with a talented, serious scriptwriter who could further explore and develop those issues while maintaining the film's same overall tone and feel. It really does show just how far a good idea and content can take a film-the director produced a much better film than most of the big budget junk.The Pornographer and Swingers are the only two movies I know of that seriously explore the male experience from a point of view that is at least peripherally sympathetic to males.