After doing three installments in this series about my favourite pornographic film, it suddenly hit me: It all began with one particular director.
I remember the hype surrounding Michael Ninn’s “Sex” when it came out in 1994 – prompting me to me to give it a look. And I was not disappointed.
The 90es was a strange age for pornography. The golden age had come and gone – the lavish sets and skillful cinematography all but abandoned for the new kid on the block: The no-nonsense, DIY, direct-to-video “Gonzo” style. A few directors managed to make raw, visceral scenes in this format – but mostly it faciliated the creation of un-erotic flesh flicks. The porn watcher was always a “peeping Tom”, but Gonzo mainly offered all of the embarrassment of this position – rarely any of the arousing taboo pleasure.
In contrast, Ninn chose not just to return to the high production values of yore – he was inspired by the most “arty”, surreal fringe of porn (he would in turn direct the fifth installment of the “New Wave Hookers” series, sparked by Gregory Dark’s original). “Sex” featured gorgeous models, beautifully shot in stylish surroundings – and a plot that didn’t so much have to make sense, but rather serve to link together as many hot and dreamlike sex scenes as possible.
Other directors have gone down this road: Andrew Blake almost made hardcore look like softcore in a series of glossy, Playboy-ish films. But where Blake prettified the sex, drowning the moans and cries with easy listening music, Ninn insisted on the grit and the heat of actual hardcore fucking. And thus his films were the perfect visualization of an erotic fantasy: The surroundings – and models – idealized and dreamlike, but the sex gritty and palpable.
“Latex” (1995) trailer
Ninn went on to create a number of iconic features – such as the plotwise incomprehensible, but visually stunning and incredibly arousing “Latex” 1995.
Not all of his films since then have made a similar impression on me. But in my book his best works rank among the best pornography ever created – and his mainstream success paved the way for many of the both hot and uncompromisingly arty porn flicks I’ve seen and thoroughly enjoyed ever since.