5. Exhibition (1975)
One of the first documentaries about a porn starlet, this French effort from Jean-Francois Davy stars Claudine Beccarie - the French equivalent of Marilyn Chambers or Linda Lovelace - as she goes about both her ordinary daily business and her porno business. The film was a massive hit in Its native France, where it played to packed houses night after night. Davy tries to present Claudine as a normal woman who just happens to be working in the sex business. He probes deeply into her life - interviewing her boyfriend, her mother, and her colleagues. We learn about her difficult childhood and sexual abuse. When interviewing Claudine herself, she comes across as an enigma and a bit of a contradiction. She hates orgies and group sex but will portray them on screen. She seems to have a lot more compassion for the female performers on set than the males for whom she demonstrates annoyance and boredom. The film is quite feminist in a lot of ways. But ultimately, however pioneering a documentary on a porn star is, the audience still wants sex. There is a lot of Claudine in 'action' and she reveals a variety of different faces and techniques - there are group scenes and a masturbation sequence. I found this film to be wildly fascinating. I find the whole porn industry to be fascinating. Now that doesn't mean I sit around watching pornos all day, but I love to read and watch about the machinations of the porn industry and the people in it. So compelling.