Wet Dreams (1974)
Giles Clark
This is a compilation of shorts which were originally commissioned by a wealthy Dutch man on the topic of wet dreams. These shorts were made by a number of directors, notably one of the pioneers of modern pornography, Lasse Braun, who is credited here as Falcon Stuart.
These shorts wouldn’t be considered arousing, but are more experimental in nature. This isn’t to say they are pretentious - on the contrary, each short is unique and entertaining.
The Happy Necrophiliacs by Lasse Braun is a funny one about an American tourist visiting Amsterdam who is taken by two girls to a room and stripped naked on a bed. The two girls then both simultaneously take it in turn to bounce up and down on him whilst having sex. This results in the American having a heart-attack and dropping dead (literally). With the guy now limp, the girls simultaneously ride up and down on his pointing up feet. All of this is accompanied by a jaunty country and western song.
A Face by Max Fischer is similar in idea to Andy Warhol’s short Blow Job (1964) where the camera is fixed stationary on the subjects face, allowing the viewer to watch the facial expressions as the subject reaches orgasm. Compared to Andy Warhol’s, Max Fischer’s short is executed in a much more sensual way as you watch the girl reach orgasm.
The Private World of Hans Kanters by Hans Kanters consists of the camera studying closely the paintings of this Dutch artist whose paintings are the equivalent to a pornographic Hieronymus Bosch painting.
The Banner by Lee Kraft consists of film shot in reverse of a mass of writhing painted naked bodies which slowly come together to create the American flag.
The Plummer by Lee Kraft is an entertaining silent movie satire with a very horny Charlie Chaplin.
As well as Lasse Braun, another notable director profiled is the Serbian director of WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971), Dusan Makavejev, who contributes the short Politfuck which, as the title suggests, has a political/sexual theme. He is credited under the name Sam Rotterdam.
This compilation was acquired by French businessman Francis Mishkind who owned the Alpha theaters and distribution circuit and released it in Paris in 1974. The Alpha France logo at the beginning of the film will be recognizable to anyone who has watched quality French porn from the Golden Age of Porn during the 1970’s.
Many of the shorts don’t have dialogue, but the ones that do have only a limited amount and are either in French or Dutch with French subtitles. On the whole, this doesn't detract from the viewer's understanding of these shorts. The only one I did have problems with was Nicholas Ray’s The Janitor which was very talky and hardly anything else.
This compilation is very much a timepiece of those times and is definitely worth tracking down. This is porn for art school students.
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