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| Historical erotica becomes available at British Film Institute Historical erotica becomes available at British Film Institute | |
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| More than a dozen examples of British erotica are being made available to view by the British Film Institute (BFI). | More than a dozen examples of British erotica are being made available to view by the British Film Institute (BFI). |
| On Friday the BFI is releasing an online collection, called The Pleasure Principle, of newly digitised films dating from 1896 to the early years of this century. They range from a Victorian lady’s frilly petticoat to a fuzzy, brief shot of a nude woman cavorting at the seaside, to a naked interview with a 1970s adult actor and model, Fiona Richmond. | On Friday the BFI is releasing an online collection, called The Pleasure Principle, of newly digitised films dating from 1896 to the early years of this century. They range from a Victorian lady’s frilly petticoat to a fuzzy, brief shot of a nude woman cavorting at the seaside, to a naked interview with a 1970s adult actor and model, Fiona Richmond. |
| The BFI’s curator, Vic Pratt, said there was a noble purpose behind making the material available. “We are trying to tell the story of illicit celluloid pleasure from the beginnings of film to the present day. It is a social and cultural journey across the 20th century with the kind of films people are sometimes embarrassed to talk about.” Pratt said the British attitude to sex was often strange and unusual to other nationalities – the French, for example – and this was borne out in some of the films. “We are much happier when we can talk in seaside and Carry On innuendoes.” | The BFI’s curator, Vic Pratt, said there was a noble purpose behind making the material available. “We are trying to tell the story of illicit celluloid pleasure from the beginnings of film to the present day. It is a social and cultural journey across the 20th century with the kind of films people are sometimes embarrassed to talk about.” Pratt said the British attitude to sex was often strange and unusual to other nationalities – the French, for example – and this was borne out in some of the films. “We are much happier when we can talk in seaside and Carry On innuendoes.” |
| The earliest film is Victorian Lady in Her Boudoir (1896), considered possibly Britain’s oldest erotic film, if a petticoat and exposed ankle can be called erotic. The 1943 film Action in Slow Motion has the cavorting nude and the warning that it is for artists – and that anyone watching it could be liable for prosecution. Other films include a Soho burlesque film from 1961 and from 1960, Xcitement! featuring Pamela Green in the type of 8mm film that was delivered in brown paper to someone replying to an advert in the back of Exchange & Mart. | The earliest film is Victorian Lady in Her Boudoir (1896), considered possibly Britain’s oldest erotic film, if a petticoat and exposed ankle can be called erotic. The 1943 film Action in Slow Motion has the cavorting nude and the warning that it is for artists – and that anyone watching it could be liable for prosecution. Other films include a Soho burlesque film from 1961 and from 1960, Xcitement! featuring Pamela Green in the type of 8mm film that was delivered in brown paper to someone replying to an advert in the back of Exchange & Mart. |
| The films reveal early film-makers experimenting with just how much they could get away with. Many of the films were shown at private men’s clubs. The BFI has digitised them as part its ongoing Britain on Film project with 10,000 films from the BFI National Archive and the UK’s national and regional film archives being made available online by the end of 2017. Around half will be free to view. | The films reveal early film-makers experimenting with just how much they could get away with. Many of the films were shown at private men’s clubs. The BFI has digitised them as part its ongoing Britain on Film project with 10,000 films from the BFI National Archive and the UK’s national and regional film archives being made available online by the end of 2017. Around half will be free to view. |
| Eyebrows might be raised at erotica but Pratt insisted: “We need to look at these films, they are interesting. There is a lot in here we can learn about ourselves. They play a really important part in social history. People have not really wanted to acknowledge it and I think we need to ... There is a lot we can learn from these films and there is a lot people will find fascinating. People will see how things have changed but also how things have not changed.” | Eyebrows might be raised at erotica but Pratt insisted: “We need to look at these films, they are interesting. There is a lot in here we can learn about ourselves. They play a really important part in social history. People have not really wanted to acknowledge it and I think we need to ... There is a lot we can learn from these films and there is a lot people will find fascinating. People will see how things have changed but also how things have not changed.” |
| A spokesperson for the BFI said the collection would be added to in the next few weeks and would also include a film called Boys and Girls Together from 1979, described as the “sexploits of a multi-racial group of tenants sharing a Hampstead house”. It is also the first certificated sight of gay men making love. “It is accidentally quite groundbreaking,” said Pratt. | A spokesperson for the BFI said the collection would be added to in the next few weeks and would also include a film called Boys and Girls Together from 1979, described as the “sexploits of a multi-racial group of tenants sharing a Hampstead house”. It is also the first certificated sight of gay men making love. “It is accidentally quite groundbreaking,” said Pratt. |