Director: Jacques Nolot
Starring: Jacques Nolot, Vittoria Scognamiglio, Sébastien Viala, Olivier Torres, Lionel Goldstein, Frédéric Longbois, Fouad Zeraoui

- Reviewed by Linda

I don't know why I am often surprised when a movie turns out to be EXACTLY what the title implies. Maybe if they had used the direct translation of the French title (The Pussy with Two Heads) there would have been a little more mystery. But as it is, Porn Theatre is about, well, a porn theatre. And there ya go.

The "pussy with two heads" would have to be the main triangle of characters that the film occasionally lingers on (when we're not watching men masturbate or being, um, "serviced" by transvestites in the theatre). The cashier (Vittoria Scognamiglio) is a good-hearted Italian woman in her 40s who serves as an understanding sort of den mother to the men who pay to go in her theater. She is non-judgmental, and even a little protective of these men, who range from straight to gay, from transvestites to hustlers, to the nervous, to the bold. The "two heads" would be the young projectionist who has a crush on her, and the older HIV+ gay man who has a crush on the projectionist. These three, in various combinations, linger at the sidewalk box office, having conversations about things, life, and whatnot.

These conversations, mainly wistful, sad, nostalgic, truthful, and sometimes even optimistic, are the best part of Porn Theatre. But earlier I hinted that you also get to see what's going on inside the theatre as well. This is where the film first is vaguely intriguing, then kinda shocking, then a bit appalling, then quite a bit tedious.

Kudos to the French for showing me a couple things that I had not ever seen on screen before in a "respectable" art film: A transvestite giving head to a patron (where you go, "Yep! No mystery there! She's really doing it!"); and an aging drag queen (that looks shockingly like Dame Edna) getting all of her bits and parts groped and gripped in full view by a handful of men. Well.

A few people walked out of the screening of Porn Theatre, and I don't really blame them. I would almost say that the triangle of the main characters makes the film worth sitting through, but on the other hand, as I struggle to get some of the rest of the imagery out of my head, I find that I still can't give it a recommendation. Perhaps the best venue for this film would be video: Those who want philosophy of life can fast forward through the seedy smut, and those who have no interest in the meaning of life can go straight to the porn.

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