Pink Narcissus is a 1971 American experimental erotic art film directed by James Bidgood and starring Bobby Kendall, Don Brooks, and stage actor Charles Ludlam. It visualizes the erotic fantasies of a gay male prostitute.
Premise
Between visits from his keeper, or John, a handsome male prostitute (Bobby Kendall), alone in his apartment, lounges, fantasizing about worlds where he is the central character. For example, he pictures himself as a matador, a Roman slave boy and the emperor who condemns him, and the keeper of a male harem for whom another male performs a belly dance.
Production
In a 2005 interview, Bidgood enumerated some of the film's inspirations, such as the British film The Red Shoes and actress Maria Montez. Most of the film's extras were people actor Don Brooks found on the streets when he went out of the set on "talent searches". with bright, otherworldly lighting and intense colors. Aside from its last, climactic scene, which was shot in a downtown Manhattan loft, it was produced in its entirety (including outdoor scenes) in Bidgood's small New York City apartment over a seven-year (from 1963 to 1970) period and ultimately released without the consent of the director, who therefore had himself credited as Anonymous. He said in the interview, "See, why I took my name off of it was that I was protesting, which I'd heard at the time that's what you did..." In 1999, a book researched and written by Benderson was published by Taschen about Bidgood's body of photographic and filmic work.
Music
- Joseph Haydn: Horn Concerto No. 1
- Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
- Modest Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain
- Sergei Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky
- Kenneth Gaburo: "Lemon Drops"
- Genaro Nunez, Banda Taurina, Rosalio Juarez: "Corazon Hispano"
Release
Pink Narcissus was initially released on May 24, 1971.
In 2003, the film was re-released by Strand Releasing as the film had its 35th anniversary in 2006.
Legacy
Bidgood's unmistakably kitschy style was later imitated and refined by artists such as Pierre et Gilles.
See also
- List of American films of 1971