The 1971 underground feature, “Pink Narcissus” — one of the horniest films ever made — is now getting a re-release in a spanking new 4K print. Shot in 8- and 16-millimeter (and blown up), this highly stylized, 65-minute, wordless film is a provocative, florid fantasy that remains as titillating today as it was on its initial (and unsuccessful) release. The film still casts a spell more than 50 years after it was made.
It was directed by the late James Bidgood, who designed the sets and costumes and shot the film almost entirely in his tiny Times Square apartment. He was credited as “Anonymous” because of a fight he had with the producers who locked him out of editing.
“Pink Narcissus” stars Bobby Kendall as a sex worker who imagines himself in a series of vivid tableaus, including one as a matador and another set in a harem. Bidgood fetishizes Kendall lovingly, emphasizing his exquisite cheekbones, bee-stung lips, sculptured torso, and an ass that prompts erotic fantasies. Kendall is one of the greatest sex objects in the history of cinema. But like Bidgood, he never made another film.
Gay City News spoke with Kelly McKaig, who is the executor of the Bidgood estate, and worked with the filmmaker for more than 20 years as his manager. (McKaig had 2 reels of the internegative that was the basis of the restoration by UCLA.) He also helped select images for the new book, “James Bidgood Dreamlands,” which features the erotic imagery from 1963-1969, some of which are featured in “Pink Narcissus.”
What was your impression of “Pink Narcissus” when you first saw it, and when you saw it most recently in this 4K restoration?
I saw it before I knew Jim when it was playing at Mix or Newfest in the late ‘90s. The print was not great, but the film was very powerful. I loved the color and images and eroticism. All of it just made an impression on me. I loved the film. The 4K, which I only saw for the first time last month, is so much richer. It’s even more sensual and more luscious and more tactile. I’m thrilled with how it’s come out.
The film has been influential for so many artists. Why do you think “Pink Narcissus,” which was apparently unsuccessful upon original release, has been so enduring?
That is the million-dollar question. Adding to all that, John Waters has been an ardent supporter for years. He considers it one of his landmark films. People see at a formable age, and it sticks with you because you’ve never seen anything like it before. It was one of a kind. It could only be made when it was made. The photography is 35 years before photoshop. He was completely self-taught photographer and filmmaker. I can’t answer why but I’m so grateful. When Charlie XCX talks about “Pink Narcissus,” it speaks to an excellence in art that transcends genre.
The film uses animation, illustration, and superimpositions to create fantastical sequences. The visuals are extraordinary. Can you discuss Bidgood’s designs?
His influences really lay in the Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940. That was the era of his childhood. He grew up poor in Wisconsin. His parents owned a bar. He went to movies. He loved the Ziegfeld Girls, Busby Berkeley, and Esther Williams numbers with fountains, glamor, glitz, and sparkle. He had to figure out how to make it on a budget. He would create these visions in his mind and pull it off with a $1.98 budget. Everything except the Times Square piece was shot in his apartment. He would put the camera in the living room facing the kitchen and then the room in back was where the backdrops were. He would shoot, tear it down, rebuild it, and shoot again.
The film is, of course, notable for its hypersexualized imagery. What observations do you have about Bidgood’s erotic aesthetic, which is visible in “James Bidgood Dreamlands”?
It looks at the changing sexual mores. In 1963, there is the Bobby Kendall stuff in the apartment and satin, chiffon, and lace. You don’t see a lot — a butt cheek and a great close up of a nipple, and his belly button. It is erotic but not explicit. But by 1969, when he is shooting the Times Square stuff, it’s full frontal and much more in your face. Jim was doing his own thing, but he recognized how sexual mores, representation, and coded imagery were changing rapidly.
What knowledge do you have about Bidgood’s fight with his producers?
Someone was making a documentary about Jim, and he spoke to the editor of the film who is still alive, and he said Jim was insistent on creating his own vision. If it took Jim seven years to make the film, it would take him seven years to edit. The producers did not want that, so they locked him out of the editing room. He rebelled by taking his name off of the film. He did not want anything to do with it if it wasn’t going to be his true vision. He lived as a true artist.
And what ever happened to Bobby Kendall, who should have been a star after his performance here?
Bobby was an accidental star. He was a hustler, and underage when Jim met him. Their friendship went on for five or six years. Bobby moved on. He went to college. He left the city. He is 75 now. He lost his hair doing the movie. Towards the end, he was wearing a toupee. Jim was able to recognize the bloom of youth and capture that.
“Pink Narcissus” was made in 1971, but the film was closer in look and spirit to avant-garde films of the 1960s. What do you think a contemporary audience who has not seen it will make of the film now? It’s an artifact. But you mention Charlie XCX admires it.
It’s old, but it is completely expansive. It expands your definition of eroticism and visual representation. It being a period piece, all the fetish scenes and all the sexual scenes are still relatable. People still go to leather bars and bathrooms. People still hire hustlers and engage in role play and fantasy. It taps into deep emotions that we all have and can identify with.
What’s your favorite sequence in the film?
Probably the Roman emperor stuff. I’ve always has a soft spot in my heart for that. The Arabian Nights stuff is a little campy for me. Bobby has this bad goatee on, and it’s very explicit — that’s where the cum shot is. I like the beauty of the men and the shot of the statues where the guys are doused in white powder while their eyes are closed and Bobby is in front of them as an emperor looking down on them. It is so iconographic.
I think the bathroom scene is exceptional.
That was all made with papier mâché. Those urinals are made with papier mâché!
Can you talk about the new book and the selection of images and the content?
The last book was 25 years ago. I knew Jim had more images. He never wanted to do a traditional coffee table book with one image per page. I know what images he liked. I think it shows more depth to Jim’s work. It allows the world to see more of what he created. This is the same, but different — different poses, different models, different scenes. He’d bring in boys and photograph them. He would have other models posing in chiffon bathing suits in front of the same set. That is what I want people to see.
“Pink Narcissus” will screen April 7 at 7:00 pm at BAM and at the Metrograph April 11-13 with a post-screening conversation with Kelly McKaig and book launch of “Jim Bidgood’s Dreamlands” on Saturday, April 12.
“Pink Narcissus” | Directed by James Bidgood | Screening April 7 at BAM and Opening April 11 at the Metrograph | Distributed by Strand Releasing
