There are few who are not familiar with the story of Deep Throat, arguably the most famous pornographic film of all time and the first of its kind to really make it in the mainstream. Sure, porn existed, in fact at the time, playing a porn film at a party was becoming a trend, something the hip youth were exploring after the “liberation” of the 60’s.
Deep Throat changed Hollywood history and that of the porn industry in particular. By including a plot, character development and a script, the film almost begged people to take the idea of a porn film seriously. It brandished the idea of sexual freedom through it’s very girl-next-door star, Linda Lovelace. Although Lovelace became a huge star in her own right off the back of the film, years later she began to disassociate herself from the piece.
Lovelace, whose real name was Linda Boreman, initially claimed that she found the entire experience liberating but by the time she made it to her third and fourth biography, she began telling a very different story. Boreman claimed she had suffered years of abuse at the hands of her husband, Chuck Traynor, who reportedly took her cheque of $1,250 for appearing in Deep Throat and controlled her finances. She also made claims of rape, being sold into prostitution and that she was held at gunpoint to make sure she turned up on set for the film. Boreman even claimed the bruises on her body you see in Deep Throat were inflicted on her by her husband.
The film itself begins with Lovelace’s life before she met Traynor. After Linda fell pregnant at a young age, her mother ensured she had her child adopted and the family promptly relocated. By the time a very young Linda meets Chuck, she is entirely used to a life that has been dictated to her by others.
After her marriage to Chuck and a run of bad finances, Traynor ensures Linda is cast as the main love interest for porn film Deep Throat. Following its success, Lovelace becomes a huge star, a hot commodity, her popularity owing to the fact that she was the perfect balance of the girl-next-door with an edge.
The film begins with how the outside world would have perceived the life of Lovelace, then there is an abrupt pause while the tone is shifted and we see what went on literally behind closed doors. Perhaps the most horrific encounter is an incident in a hotel room where her husband sells her to five men who subsequently gang rape her.
Although, as one particular critic has pointed out, the entire production looks like a TV movie, the performances make it. Amanda Seyfried as Lovelace is astonishing, exploring a strength coupled with a vulnerability which is unnerving. Peter Sarsgaard as her abusive husband is positively terrifying. However, James Franco hits a bum note, not recognisable at all as Hugh Hefner, he barely turns up for the pay cheque.
However, despite the exploration of her life, the film could have looked more deeply into how the role affected Boreman’s later life, more specifically concerning her book Ordeal and how she dismissed Deep Throat, only to be found signing pictures of the appearance in her later life. Lovelace almost depicts her as two-dimensional character, which is far from the truth.
On top of this, Lovelace barely touches on the impact that Deep Throat itself . It could be argued this is a film about Lovelace’s life and not necessarily the most famous porn film ever, however it maybe could have been referenced a little more.
This is not an easy film to watch, but it’s certainly a good and interesting film to watch. Don’t be surprised if we see a few Oscar nominations from this.
