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Nude Celebs: Jessica Harper - This strange but excellent 1975 drama will leave you shaking your head. It's supposed to, thus the NC-17 rating.
A renowned silent film director struggles as the new talkies are released. He is unable to make the transition, so he becomes a brooding hermit in his own home. To make money, he films silent porn films on a set he built at his house.
This is a guy filled with feelings of inadequacy. He's impotent. He hates what he's doing. He hates the talkies. He hates himself.
His producer shows up with girlfriend in tow to see how the latest porn film is coming. He also brings the female porn star's heroin, which she requires in order to keep working. The producer leaves, but the girlfriend stays to watch filming.
Unfortunately, the lead dies of an overdose before the inserts, close-ups that are spliced between scenes, are filmed. Because the producer's girlfriend so admires the director's work, she offers to stand-in for the inserts, leading to additional problems when the producer returns.
This is a one-room drama, which doesn't always convert well to movies, but this one is played beautifully, and has sharp comedy throughout, although it maintains a fairly serious tone. It has a slow pace, but is still interesting, and given the adult nature of the subject, is of course loaded with nudity and adult conversation. I liked it despite its weirdness.
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