Pink Narcissus

Tuesday 4 July at 7pm
The Elizabeth Picture Theatre

Pink Narcissus, James Bidgood, 1971, 65m
An outrageous erotic poem focusing on the daydreams of a beautiful boy sex worker who, from the seclusion of his ultra-kitsch apartment, conceives a series of interlinked narcissistic fantasies populated by matadors, dancing boys, slaves and leather-clad bikers.
James Bidgood filmed Pink Narcissus with his partner (and star) Bobby Kendall over eight years (’63 to ’71) as extension of their professional work making exotic erotic photographs for Adonis, Muscleboy and Physique Pictorial. They would laboriously convert their apartment into a fantasy set—shoot, film and enact their sequences—before returning their apartment to its ‘normal’ state. Shaped by the Folies Bergère, George Quaintance, and The Red Shoes, Bidgood summons a heightened, camp delirium that not only creates another fantastic world, but a world whose lurid intensity then permeates our own world and actions.

Screened with Blank Narcissus and a pre-recorded introduction and Q&A with Peter Strickland.

Blank Narcissus (Passion of the Swamp)
Peter Strickland, 2022, 12m
In Blank Narcissus an aging porno director makes a commentary in 2022 for the DVD of an underground 16mm film he made in 1972 and recently rediscovered. As the beautiful stud in the film undergoes a series of erotic reveries, the director laments his doomed love affair with his protagonist.

Unrated 18+

With thanks to Prototype & Arcadia, the BFI, and Peter Strickland

As always, admission is free to all members, and membership can be found at our website container.org.au/membership or at the box office counter on the night. Membership ranges from $30 (six months concession) to $100 (annual regular).