a film by James Bidgood
1971 | 70 mins | US
Bobby Kendall
Don Brooks
Charles Ludlam
Pink Narcissus
a narcissistic medley of
homoerotic fantasies
Screened in Great Britain as part of the
21st London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
- Art of the Erotic Imagination 2007
Available on DVD as part of the
BFI catalogue
www.bfi.org.uk
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Some films become famous for reasons that lie outside their celluloid image and suffice to say
that this is one such example. For what began as a personal project in 1963 / 1964
would become a landmark in gay cinema.
Yet the reasons for such go beyond the fantasy world of its star, one Bobby Kendall, a handsome
young man whose vivid imagination take on the noted matador, Roman slave, Arabian Nights and
Times Square set-pieces of this work. Rather such is on account of the aura of mystery
that surrounded this feature when first released and for many a decade thereafter,
given that it was produced, written, photographed and directed by 'Anonymous.'
And so began a grand conspiracy theory gay style, as speculation grew as to who was behind this
blatant showcase of cinematic homo-erotica. Over time, many a famous name was linked to the
project including the like of Andy Warhol, together with various directors of the big screen
who 'it was said' preferred to remain anonymous in fear that the revelation of their true
identity would curtail their glistening Hollywood careers. Yet just as fact can often be
stranger than fiction, the man behind this gay classic was finally revealed in 1999
as James Bidgood and only then courtesy of the publication of a monograph of his photographs.
Bidgood had, in effect, ate, slept and lived for his work and indeed with its star Bobby Kendall
for the majority of the seven-year period in which it was filmed for the main part in his small
Manhattan apartment. Shot piece-meal fashion mostly in 8mm with part 16mm photography, Bidgood
was instrumental in almost every aspect of the piece, whether tailoring the infamous see-through
underwear, designing the meticulously crafted sets, hand-making the chiffon costumes or animating
the films' poetic silk butterfly sequence. Yet his pursuit for celluloid perfection would prove
to be his downfall, as the backers of the film, one Sherpix Productions, would eventually grow
tired of investing money into a production that seemingly was never ending. Impatient for a
release date and financial return for money spent, they eventually took hold of the footage
and had the film edited without his approval. Incensed by such, Bidgood refused to have
his name attached to a film that he had literally lost both directorial and
editorial control of. And so began the legend of 'Anonymous.'
Described by some as a masterpiece, today PINK NARCISSUS can be viewed as akin to the works of
Kenneth Anger, clearly experimental by nature, mixed with shades of Pierre et Gilles, only years
before they set foot in the field of male erotica. Yet for all of its dreamlike, almost
hallucinogenic quality, it has somewhat dated and with no dialogue, saturated colour photography
and a plot linked solely by way of the fantasy element of the piece, such will undoubtedly
make for difficult viewing for some, being in effect a narcissistic
medley of homoerotic fantasies.
As a film devoted to the male form, the love of one's own sex, let alone self-beauty, PINK
NARCISSUS was years ahead of what was being produced for a gay viewing audience during the
largely pre-Stonewall period of its production. Cited by some as being pornography dressed up as
art, such is more a work of gay titillation, although with male nudity and a straight-to-camera
ejaculation shot on view, it remains adult entertainment to this day. All of which makes it
a prime example of seventies queer cinema, as provocative as the day it first appeared,
although clearly not in the form as envisaged by one James Bidgood; drag queen,
costume / set designer, physique photographer and director of one
of the most artistically creative gay works of our time.
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