Pink Narcissus

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Pink Narcissus
Directed by James Bidgood
Produced by James Bidgood
Written by James Bidgood
Music by Martin Jay Sadoff
Gary Goch
Cinematography James Bidgood
Editing by Martin Jay Sadoff
Distributed by Sherpix Inc
Strand Releasing (2003 re-release)
Release dates 1971
Running time 71 mins
Country United States
Language English
Budget $27,000 (estimated)

Pink Narcissus (1971) is an American arthouse drama film by James Bidgood visualizing the erotic fantasies of a gay male prostitute.

Synopsis

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

The movie is mostly shot on 8 mm film 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 apartment over a seven-year (from 1963 to 1970) period and ultimately released without the director's consent who therefore had himself credited as Anonymous.

Provenance

Because the name of the filmmaker was not widely known, there were rumors that Andy Warhol was behind it. In the mid-1990s, writer Bruce Benderson, who was obsessed with the film, began a search for its maker based on several leads and finally verified that it was James Bidgood, who was still living in Manhattan and was working on a film script. In 1999, a book researched and written by Benderson was published by Taschen about Bidgood's body of photographic and filmic work.

Bidgood's unmistakable kitschy style has later been imitated and refined by artists such as Pierre et Gilles.

In 2003, the film was re-released by Strand Releasing.

Music

Further reading

External links

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