Destricted (2006)

A compilation of erotic films intended to illuminate the points where art meets sexuality.

Directors:

Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney

Writers:

Matthew Barney (segment), Richard Prince (segment)

Stars:

Goce Balkovic, Goran Brklja, Daniel

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Goce Balkovic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Goran Brklja	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Daniel	...	Himself (from "Impaled")
Zoran Brklja	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Ana Hamljan Colic	...	Herself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Goran Delic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Dino Dinoni	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Zivorad Dordevic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Mima Dukanovic	...	Herself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Fikrija Filipovic	...	Herself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Aleksandar Gemaljevic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Bosiljka Gemanjevic	...	Herself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Tihomir Grbic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")
Dusan Jevtovic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic") (as Dusan Jeftovic)
Igor Kamberovic	...	Himself (segment: "Balkan Erotic Epic")

Storyline

Shorts by eight directors examine the boundary between Eros and porn. A feral man masturbates with the aid of a whirling crankshaft; a sunbathing woman phones a doctor for a playful house call; a man with a quartz penis goes through lovemaking, castration, cannibalism, and restoration; a mouth and tongue, close up, lick viscous liquids of different colors and consistency; we watch a grainy film of a lesbian threesome, their eyes and genitalia crudely scratched out; a director interviews ten men, choosing one who picks among six actresses for a porn shoot; ink wash drawings become animated scenes of copulation; last, while an infant cries, a strobe illuminates adults at play.

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Plot Keywords:

male pubic hair | rear entry sex | male full frontal nudity | shaved vulva | title co directed by female | 

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Taglines:

Fabulously, Tantalisingly Exciting.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Tadrart Films [France]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Afstiros akatallilo

Company Credits

Production Co:

Offhollywood Digital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

At 38 minutes, Larry Clark's contribution "Impaled" is the longest short included here.

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Quotes

Marina Abramovic: In Balkan culture, since ancient times, the male and female organs, like phalics, vaginas, and brest, have been used as tools against sickness, evil forces of nature, etc.

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Alternate Versions

The US version (2010) runs 129 minutes and includes the following segments: "Green Pink Caviar" (Marilyn Minter), "Hoist" (Matthew Barney), "Four Letter Heaven" ('Cecily Brown'), "Impaled" (Larry Clark), "We Fuck Alone" ('Gaspar Noè'), "House Call" (Richard Prince), "Scratch This" (Sante D'Orazio), "Cooking" (Tunga).

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Connections

Edited from 9½ Weeks (1986)

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Soundtracks

Save Our Slavic Souls
(uncredited)
Performed by Svetlana Spacjic

User Reviews

Tedious collection of shorts that have nothing interesting to say about sex or pornography

Destricted - an experimental collection of shorts by artists and film-makers exploring the subjects of sex, sexuality and pornography - didn't cause as much of a fuss as the creatives behind it were probably hoping for upon its release in 2006. While this is one of the most extreme films ever to be passed by the BBFC, it had to resort to an exploitative tactic when released on DVD by wrapping the box in a black seal as if what was inside was too explicit to be seen by anyone passing the art-house section of their local HMV. Truth be told, Destricted is no more shocking than late-night Babestation, and probably has just as much to say on our attitudes to sex.

The UK release featured a different line-up of films to the one released in the US, so I'll point out that I'm reviewing the UK version, which consists of seven shorts, the longest being 38 minutes and the shortest just over 2. I started with Larry Clark's Impaled, possible the most interesting film of the bunch. Clark interviews a roster of 18-23 year old males for a porn movie, and asks them about their sexual preferences. In an age where porn is readily available to anybody, it comes as no surprise that the interviewees prefer rough sex and ejaculating onto their partner's face. Shrewdly, Clark chooses the most softly-spoken and sweetest of the bunch, Daniel, who chooses older porn star Nancy to be his on- screen partner. Watching Nancy eat him alive has a strange poignancy to it.

Next up I saw Marina Abramovic's Balkan Erotic Epic, a strange and genuinely funny tale of pagan rituals told by the stern-looking Abramovic who struggles to speak English. The sight of naked men humping the ground and a group of women dancing and occasionally exposing their genitalia in the rain is bizarre and almost Pythonesque, and certainly raised my mood despite how cheap it looked. Richard Prince's House Call is a 13 minute re- contextualisation of an old porn scene, in which a busty young woman is visited by a well-hung doctor, who proceed to have ugly, hairy sex in a pleasantly aggression-free manner. Prince adds an eerie soundtrack and distorts the colour so much that the sexual organs on show looks like disgusting, slug-like creatures.

Marco Brambilla's Sync is a relief at just over 2 minutes, rapidly editing together hundreds of porn scenes to a drum-solo score. It's an interesting experiment, reminding us of the repetitive and formulaic nature of porn. Strangest of all the films on show is Matthew Barney's Hoist, which places a black actor with a gourd up his a**e underneath a five-ton struck, who proceeds to rub his erect penis on the lubricated drive-shaft of the vehicle. It is supposed to be a commentary on primitive man's relationship with machinery, but at almost 15 minutes long, it long outstays its welcome. By this point, I had seen enough flatulent and erect penises to last me a lifetime, which made the next film all the more painful. Sam Taylor- Wood's (now Taylor-Johnson) Death Valley has a man masturbate alone in the desert. For eight incredibly long minutes.

While I thought I was saving the best for last, I was actually saving the worst. Gaspar Noe's We F**k Alone feels like the cinematic equivalent of the director telling us that he's had a shitty day. Shot Irreversible-style and complete with constant strobe effects, the film has a man and a woman masturbate to same porn movie in two separate rooms. One enjoys a oversized teddy bear while the other face-f***s a blow-up doll with a gun. It's a terrible, hateful, and utterly pointless exercise, which, much like Destricted as a whole, has nothing interesting to say about sex and pornography. Porn can be formulaic, seedy, expressive and shamefully titillating. But anybody who has ever masturbated before will surely know this already, and won't have to put themselves through almost two hours of arty nonsense to come to this realisation.