Many history-making films are nothing to write home about without broader historical or cultural context. And many of them earned its place in film history books simply for being made and released at the right time. One of them is Deep Throat, the 1972 pornographic film directed by Gerard Damiano, is a historically significant work that played a crucial role in the mainstreaming of pornography in American culture.
Like many pornographic films made at the time, Deep Throat works as a comedy, this time based on simple, albeit preposterous, concept. Linda Lovelace stars as herself, a young woman who complains to her roommate Helen (played by Dolly Sharp) that she can't reach proper orgasm. Helen tries to help her by staging a sex party with numerous men, but they fail to satisfy her. Linda afterwards visits psychiatrist Dr. Young (played by Harry Reems), who discovers that her clitoris is located in her throat. He suggests she practice the oral sex technique known as "deep throat". Linda is later hired as his nurse and helps patients with her skills, but ultimately decides to marry Wilber Wang (played by Harry Love), one of the young patients, instead of Dr. Young.
As a pornographic film, Deep Throat doesn't feature content that isn't standard for the genre. As a comedy, it suffers from weak dialogue and many unfunny jokes. Linda Lovelace, while a talented performer in sex scenes, doesn't show much acting ability. Her colleagues, like Harry Reems, who previously had some stage acting experience, and Dolly Sharp, former musical child prodigy that ultimately failed to have career at Broadway, leave a better impression.
Despite those flaws, Deep Throat benefits from having Gerard Damiano, former hairdresser who dreamed of becoming serious filmmaker, as director. His work is solid, considering the low budget and quick shooting schedule. The film's use of a soundtrack mixing 1970s progressive rock with classical and pop motifs gives it a strange, "artsy" atmosphere, especially to today’s viewers, accustomed to raw “gonzo” style of pornography. Some contemporaries even interpreted film it as some sort of bold artistic statement.
Deep Throat was originally produced with little ambition by some shady figures connected with organised crime who cared mainly about making quick money. Yet, it was released during the presidency of Richard M. Nixon, conservative figure passionately hated by American predominantly left-wing cultural elite and during the zenith of the Sexual Revolution, with many intellectuals, as well as former counterculture-loving Boomers seeing this film as a way to “stick it to the Man”. The film was praised by many critics, became runaway hit and became a popular topic of conversation, with its title later cementing its place in history as the alias of the Watergate informant.
Deep Throat launched the "Porno chic" phenomenon and led many pornographic filmmakers, including Damiano, to create ambitious, high-budget films in hopes of erasing boundaries between adult and mainstream cinema during so-called Golden Age of Pornography. While this didn't happen for various reasons, ranging from conservative backlash to emergence of video technology, Deep Throat maintained its important place in film history. Nowadays, it can be recommended to audiences who aren't offended by explicit sexual content as a mildly entertaining curiosity.
RATING: 5/10 (+)
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