8. Kamikaze Hearts (1986)
Kamikaze Hearts is a documentary about the world of pornography, this one focusing on celebrated porn veteran Sharon Mitchell and her lesbian relationship with porn newcomer Tigr. A seedy, grimy, yet highly compelling view into the sleazy under belly of the porn industry, the film follows the two women into a heroin soaked torpor. On the one hand we have loud mouth Sharon Mitchell bragging about how much pleasure and joy she gets through pornography and passionately defending drug use. On the other hand, Tigr seems more unsure of herself - I have read that Mitchell got her addicted to heroin. Part lesbian/heroin addict romance, part mouthpiece for Sharon Mitchell, if you are expecting to see hard core scenes, you will be disappointed. Some of the final scenes where Tigr collapses and Mitchell nods off in a heroin haze, a needle stuck in her arm are harrowing. The film catches them from fix to fix living in a 24 hour living nightmare of porn sets, strip joints, parties and other unwholesome activities. A mesmerising platform for one of porn's greatest performers - Sharon Mitchell. After she was violently raped by a deranged stalker, she cleaned up her act and now runs HIV testing programmes for adult movie performers. I wonder what she thinks of this little firebrand of a film in retrospect.