Inside Deep Throat

In 1972 a pornographic film was made cheaply at a hotel in Florida. It was finished in six days and cost very little. Then something unexpected happened: it played in ordinary cinemas, was written about in the press, celebrities went to see it, and it became a matter of public talk. Then the prosecutions began; it was banned in many states, the producers were tried, and the file went to the federal level. The documentary describes the whole process, starting from the shoot. Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato direct. The documentary dates from 2005. Its subject is not the film but what happened around it; the documentary treats that as an argument of a period. Those who speak include producers, performers, journalists, lawyers and the cultural writers of the time. Its lead performer made serious claims in later years about the conditions of the production; the documentary passes those on as well and does not close the argument. Where the money went is one strand and its connection to organised crime is taken up. The documentary puts the argument over freedom of expression at the centre and gives the court process in detail. Its limit is balance; the narrative romanticises the period at times. Who it is for: anyone curious about film history and arguments over censorship. Who it is not for: the subject is explicit, some sections uncomfortable, and the narrative takes a side.