Finished is an experimental documentary by film maker William E Jones that traces his obsession with Québécois porn actor Alan Lambert. Lambert saw himself as a revolutionary, ultimately taking his own life in a misguided act of political transgression. Jones’s confessional film takes us from the politics of porn film industry to the consumer appeal of porn trying to understand what led to his muse take his own life.
Alan killed himself at age twenty-five to keep from getting old and losing his looks. A last letter, several friends, and a handful of videos point to a contradictory, volatile Alan Lambert, who was very likely manic-depressive. There are no tearful talking heads, no shocking re-enactments, no lengthy excerpts of the suicide letter, and most pointedly, not a single glimpse of full frontal nudity. Alan Lambert's political convictions lead him to criticize the circulation of commodities and the alienation it produces, and yet paradoxically, he sold himself, becoming a commodity in the most direct way. Finished suggests that what Alan brought to an intolerable level of contradiction, many of us experience in our everyday lives.
The director graciously exposes his own motives for making the film. The extended camera shots gives this film both interesting backdrops and a mediative quality. "Finished" explores issues like creative exploitation and how pornography is more a product of raw supply-and-demand rather than artistic impulse. Though this documentary leaves you with no answers, it makes you think about the people behind the camera and how models in the sex industry (or models in general) can be tormented, angry, and helpless: all the things they are not supposed to be when appearing in their films. The film asks for a lot of patience and if you already for that, go for it. (4/10)
Comments