PARK CITY, Utah -- Philosophical porn might be the marketing allure for "Sex: The Annabel Chong Story", the attention-getting documentary that had Sundance in a tither last week with its steamy subject matter -- a young woman sets the world record for the largest gang bang -- 251 men in 10 hours.
In this age of Jerry Springer and widespread media saturation that affords opportunity for the nation's leading lunatics a chance to strut their stuff, "Sex" is not all that deviant from the standard slosh one sees on TV talk shows, late-night offerings or adult videos.
Undoubtedly, the title will win notoriety and, as a pseudo-feminist tract, some daffy discussion. "Sex" is, perhaps not surprisingly, a dud in the arousal area, but it is interesting as a character study, and its staying power as a presentation might be as a serious offering on a biography or medical case-study show.
Overall, "Sex" is pretty much a hand-held job that follows the day-to-day activities of USC coed Grace Quang, a somewhat geeky, slightly pretty student dabbling in the gender studies arena. We see her in anthro classes and wandering around such artifices as the Annenberg School of Communications. She's just another Trojan until, as she exclaims, she has a "existential crisis while walking across campus." In addition to being annoyed by the dogmas of modern-day feminism, she decides to become a porn star. There you have it, sexual showmanship as inspired by Soren Kierkegaard.
Certainly, "Sex" is unwittingly funny as the young and decidedly immature Grace strings together a lot of half-baked anthropological and sociological credos and spins into a course of action. While the gender studies industry will certainly scoff at Grace's sensationalistic exhibitions in the name of gender-breaking, clinical psychologists will be intrigued by her brassy resolve, capacity for self-delusion and, beneath it all, self-loathing.
In between the demolition derby-type sexual stuff and the lingerie parading and sashaying, "Sex: The Annabel Chong Story" is a decidedly somber and nonglossy affair. Filmmaker Gough Lewis' probing camera work captures the dismalness of Grace's day-to-day existence: She lives in a grubby apartment down yonder by USC and is befriended only by a cadre of poseurs and attention-getters.
Essentially, she is alone; her delicate ego and self-image is nurtured only by the praise and braying of the scumballs of porn, those making and taking her for big bucks. Inevitably, we come to see her as a sad, disturbed individual; a scene of her slashing at her arms is particularly revealing and emblematic of her sexual/psychological downward spiral. Going alone to a public-service AIDS testing clinic is also one of the major obstacles this woman endures. And, she decides to inform her traditional Malaysian mother of her escapades.
Filmically, "Sex" is tightly composed and psychologically revealing. Technically, Lewis has constructed a nonexploitive look at one mixed-up individual's attempt to assert herself and use the sexual system to her advantage. The camera work is especially revealing, lingering just long enough and letting us see the details and substance of the surface sensationalism. Composer Peter Mundinger's sharp and tense sounds are also a fitting correlative for this woman's desperate self-promotion and personal floundering.
SEX: THE Annabel Chong STORY
Omni International and Greycast Releasing present
A Coffee House Films production
A film by Gough Lewis
Producers: Hugh F. Curry, David Whitten, Gough Lewis
Director: Gough Lewis
Executive producers: Kathleen Curry, Suzanne Bowers Whitten
Co-creator: Kelly Morris
Story consultant: Greg West
Principal photography: Jim Michaels, Kelly Morris, Gough Lewis, Tony Morone
Associate producers: Brad Brough, Gloria Pryor
Music: Peter Mundinger
Color/stereo
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In this age of Jerry Springer and widespread media saturation that affords opportunity for the nation's leading lunatics a chance to strut their stuff, "Sex" is not all that deviant from the standard slosh one sees on TV talk shows, late-night offerings or adult videos.
Undoubtedly, the title will win notoriety and, as a pseudo-feminist tract, some daffy discussion. "Sex" is, perhaps not surprisingly, a dud in the arousal area, but it is interesting as a character study, and its staying power as a presentation might be as a serious offering on a biography or medical case-study show.
Overall, "Sex" is pretty much a hand-held job that follows the day-to-day activities of USC coed Grace Quang, a somewhat geeky, slightly pretty student dabbling in the gender studies arena. We see her in anthro classes and wandering around such artifices as the Annenberg School of Communications. She's just another Trojan until, as she exclaims, she has a "existential crisis while walking across campus." In addition to being annoyed by the dogmas of modern-day feminism, she decides to become a porn star. There you have it, sexual showmanship as inspired by Soren Kierkegaard.
Certainly, "Sex" is unwittingly funny as the young and decidedly immature Grace strings together a lot of half-baked anthropological and sociological credos and spins into a course of action. While the gender studies industry will certainly scoff at Grace's sensationalistic exhibitions in the name of gender-breaking, clinical psychologists will be intrigued by her brassy resolve, capacity for self-delusion and, beneath it all, self-loathing.
In between the demolition derby-type sexual stuff and the lingerie parading and sashaying, "Sex: The Annabel Chong Story" is a decidedly somber and nonglossy affair. Filmmaker Gough Lewis' probing camera work captures the dismalness of Grace's day-to-day existence: She lives in a grubby apartment down yonder by USC and is befriended only by a cadre of poseurs and attention-getters.
Essentially, she is alone; her delicate ego and self-image is nurtured only by the praise and braying of the scumballs of porn, those making and taking her for big bucks. Inevitably, we come to see her as a sad, disturbed individual; a scene of her slashing at her arms is particularly revealing and emblematic of her sexual/psychological downward spiral. Going alone to a public-service AIDS testing clinic is also one of the major obstacles this woman endures. And, she decides to inform her traditional Malaysian mother of her escapades.
Filmically, "Sex" is tightly composed and psychologically revealing. Technically, Lewis has constructed a nonexploitive look at one mixed-up individual's attempt to assert herself and use the sexual system to her advantage. The camera work is especially revealing, lingering just long enough and letting us see the details and substance of the surface sensationalism. Composer Peter Mundinger's sharp and tense sounds are also a fitting correlative for this woman's desperate self-promotion and personal floundering.
SEX: THE Annabel Chong STORY
Omni International and Greycast Releasing present
A Coffee House Films production
A film by Gough Lewis
Producers: Hugh F. Curry, David Whitten, Gough Lewis
Director: Gough Lewis
Executive producers: Kathleen Curry, Suzanne Bowers Whitten
Co-creator: Kelly Morris
Story consultant: Greg West
Principal photography: Jim Michaels, Kelly Morris, Gough Lewis, Tony Morone
Associate producers: Brad Brough, Gloria Pryor
Music: Peter Mundinger
Color/stereo
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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