Skip to main content

The Erotic Films of Peter De Rome

By Golu
In the late 1960s and early 1970s British-born New Yorker and unsung hero of gay underground filmmaking Peter de Rome produced a number of explicit, painstakingly crafted films each of which took the viewer on an immersive sexual journey. He started by making 8mm erotic films solely for the amusement of his friends. After one of his films was shown at a festival, eight of them were enlarged to 16mm and commercially released in this collection. This collection is an interesting  example of the intersection of artistry and eroticism, in the tradition of Andy Warhol style. This collection also has some extra short films as well.

Hot Pants - A guy dancing and stripping before achieving erection and ejaculation.
Mumbo Jumbo - A fantastic collage of erotic advertising and pornographic snippets overlaid with commercial jingles
Daydreams From a Crosstown Bus - A sweet romantic idyll where a guy images a relationship with a hunky stranger glimpsed out the window when his bus stops at a red light
Green Thoughts - A guy walks around his garden and plants and then jerks off amidst the greenery around him
Double Exposure - In a fancy villa, a young man and a nude youth cruise each other but never touch.
Underground - A hot sex scene filmed aboard an operating New York subway train, but is memorable for its boldness
The Second Coming - A  travelogue followed by a couple of moments of scandalous imagery, as a naked man in a church ejaculates and bleeds from the mouth.
Prometheus - A sado-masochistic short film where a captive is tied and any guys come and repeatedly open up his ass by having sex.

These were the additional extra short films from Peter de Rome in the collection:
Fragments: The Incomplete Films of Peter de Rome - An insightful and revealing new documentary in which Peter de Rome discusses his many incomplete and unfinished films.
Scopo (1966) -  When a young man arrives at an empty apartment, he is unaware that a stranger is watching him.
The Fire Island Kids (1970) - Two men spend a lazy day in each other's company after one rescues the other from drowning
Moulage (1971) - Humour and art collide in this study of erotic body casting.
Brown Study (1979) - An ethnographic study with a difference.

All these short films belong to a different era and thats how you have to see them. Some of these have dialogue, but most do not. The music is atmospheric that it is difficult to believe that it could be heard in a film of gay erotica art film (not pornography). Overall, the collection is is probably most notable as a historical document with glimpses of pre-Stonewall gay soft- and hardcore; but with so many short films which start to feel like repetitive, you do start to lose interest, but still worth glancing through. (5/10)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

By Golu
Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin
5 comments
Read more

One Summer Night (Korean)

By Golu
I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors. Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who
Post a Comment
Read more

Ultimate masturbation: Shigoki no yama (Japanese) [The Ultimate Masturbation]

By Golu
I would never know what was the point behind making this film. Was it supposed to be a comedy, cos it wasn't. It wasn't even porn. It was just a silly attempt at making something absolutely senseless and ridiculous. The story, as well as direction is equally shoddy. You could laugh for having seen something so bad, but I wouldn't call that comedy. An old man runs a camp about gay masturbation. The explanation given is that gays masturbate for pleasure unlike straight men, for whom the act is seen as shame or because they can't find a woman. One day a straight man shows up and wants to join the camp for his thesis. After discussion, he is allowed in. Rules include that you can masturbate together, you can masturbate one another, but there is no fellatio or anal sex. Some students of course breaks rule. The teacher then talks about 2 forms of masturbation which gives ultimate pleasure. He shows one without touching and then refuses to talk of the other. Somehow suddenly,
Post a Comment
Read more