The Good Old Naughty Days (Polissons et galipettes) Movie Review:


This documentary is basically a collection of found footage, short French porn films from the 1920s, when filmmakers were discovering the kinds of things they could do with the cinema. The production values are very high, mostly because they were shot on proper film sets while the main production took its days off. Excellent lighting, camera work and even acting all disguise the underground system in which these films were produced. No one used their real names, and the cast are all wearing ridiculous wigs, moustaches and beards. Today, no one knows who made them.

Watching these films assembled here is a surreal experience. They seem so sophisticated that you almost doubt the footage is real; surely it's a joke, they just shot it last year then scratched the stock and added a silent-movie piano score. They look exactly like Charlie Chaplin-era silent films. There's a lot of imagination on display, as each film uses a theme to tell its little "story", which usually starts with a couple of women, then expands into a group orgy. Plots involve servants, schools, a cafe, voyeurism, a massage parlour, a dirty old man and a group of nuns (and their dog!). There's even one done in Madame Butterfly style, as well as a filthy animated segment that's absolutely hilarious. All of this is done so professionally, with wit and skill, that it's actually quite telling: Not only is there nothing new under the sun, but a century later we can't even be bothered to be this creative about it.

Rich Cline

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