Polissons et galipettes

From the very first days of silent movies, the camera seems to have been the perfect voyeuristic tool to film people making love. An underground production system started taking shape very early on, allowing private collectors to satisfy their own secret passion for transgressive sex footage. These films were fabricated in a haphazard fashion during just one afternoon with friends and local prostitutes lending a hand for a few cents. Of course, all of them asked to remain anonymous which makes it impossible today to identify who really acted or directed them. This makes it rather delightful to watch these ‘actors’ often having to readjust their wigs and fake moustaches in the middle of a scene to avoid being recognised unmasked. It is touching to see how fresh and naïve these films look in comparison with today’s x-rated film production.Some of these movies, often using the camera, set and costumes from a legitimate production on their day off, were made with the director himself, even some of the most talented and recognised among them. These underground blue movies have managed to reach us, miraculously. In their own amusing way, these images involve us in a very direct, physical and intimate relationship with the good old days. They show us how human nature really operates, has continuously remained the same and will certainly never change. Michel Reilhac