LOADING
Directed by James Bidgood | 69 minutes | 18+ | 55th Anniversary |
9:15pm Saturday, 16 May | Balam Balam Place - Cinema 3 | Buy Tickets | Buy Passes
Don’t dream it - be it! A lush 8mm fantasy of erotic and aesthetic desire.
Long rumoured to be a secret Andy Warhol project, this sensual art film was actually the disowned work of photographer and filmmaker James Bidgood—captured in his own New York apartment over seven long years, and then credited to simply ‘Anonymous’. With its spangled costumes and handmade fairytale scenarios of domination and submission, however, Pink Narcissus refused to be forgotten.
Restored in April 2025, the film follows a pouting sex worker (Bobby Kendall) through otherworldly pictures of pleasure, opposite streetcast extras and lascivious lighting. Like the Ancient Greek myth of its title, Bidgood’s queer kitsch masterpiece holds a mirror up to male beauty, and loves what it sees.
"Actor-model Bobby Kendall’s ass; as beautiful and timeless as The Wizard of Oz." - John Waters, Artforum
"Much imitated, Narcissus is still not quite like anything else: A kitsch jewel-box dream, at once smutty and innocent." 0 Dennis Harvey, 48 Hills
SIMILAR: Querelle, Tom of Finland, David LaChappelle, Alain Giraudie, Kenneth Anger, Warhol, Derek Jarman
Country: United States
Year: 1971
Language: English