Title: Babylon Blue
Author/Artist: David Flint
Publisher: Creation Books
Media: Book
Reviewer: James Marriott
One of the strange things about the ‘mini-flurry’ (as Flint puts it) of books on the adult film industry is that they’re actually all quite different - Pornocopia is a fairly academic if readable tome dealing with a lot of the moral and legal concepts surrounding porn; The X-Factory is an enthusiastic fan’s book for fans, and you can almost imagine Petkovich drooling as he meets the stars of his fantasies, who he describes in unbridled gonzo terms; and this one’s an overview and history of the industry, all the way to the present-day fascination with Ninn-style glossy fetish fashion, with a tone pitched somewhere between the two. Flint’s clearly a fan, but he avoids dealing with the rights and wrongs (possibly feeling firstly that the ground’s been covered before, and secondly that he’d be preaching to the converted) and expresses his enthusiasm in a more restrained way than Petkovich, although occasionally passages such as the following slip through:
‘... the most astonishing close-ups and camera angles that you will ever see in any hardcore movie. When the man fucks Gabriella doggie-style, we get two remarkable shots - one from above, and the better of the two from below, offering an ultra-tight close-up of his member slamming into her, and a crystal-clear shot of her asshole. A few moments later, this is bettered by a shot of him shoving his finger up her anus, which fills the whole screen.’
Whoa there! Another strange thing about these books, along with a couple of others, is that they’re all British. Considering the situation - distribution of hardcore is still illegal in this country, despite (believe it or not) the efforts of James Ferman to bring us in line with other European countries - it seems bizarre that there’s so much interest here. It’s similar to the situation regarding violent films - the fanzine attention paid to ‘video nasties’ and other restricted films seems often far out of proportion to the actual merit of most of the films - the main point of interest is that these films are banned; but I digress.
Readers of this fine magazine should be familiar with David Flint - he was involved at its birth, and has since written for all sorts of publications, from Harvey Fenton’s superb Flesh & Blood to his own Divinity and short-lived Sexadelic. He’s an excellent and highly readable writer, mixing incisive comment with an attention to detail which is comprehensive without quite being obsessive and an understated humour which is the perfect foil for some of the more ludicrous areas highlighted - such as Itty Bitty Gang Bang, a group sex movie featuring exclusively (you guessed it) dwarves. As far as I’m aware this book was meant to come out a couple of years ago, but publication was postponed due to a police read on Flint’s home, in which they confiscated his video collection and his computer - the text of Babylon Blue being on the hard drive. Apparently after six months everything was returned, as the police couldn’t charge him - simple possession of obscene material isn’t an offence, although they kept the material for as long as they could.
The focus is well balanced, concentrating on what must be the two key areas of interest in porn history - the 70s golden age and the ‘new porn generation’ - Andrew Blake, Michael Ninn, Antonio Passolini etc. The interviews featured are with industry heavyweights, concentrating on directors/producers rather than starlets and ‘woodsmen’ - namely Passolini, Lindsay Honey (aka Steve Perry aka Ben Dover), Jane Hamilton and David Friedman (some of whose films have recently been shown in this country as part of C4’s Exploitica season), all of whom come across as remarkably articulate and interesting individuals, especially Passolini, who turns out to be a big Throbbing Gristle fan. It’s telling, too, that Passolini and Ninn were heavily influenced by British fetish fashion in putting together Sex and Latex, and Passolini regards British kinkiness as the classiest in the world. Hurrah! The chapter on ‘Fortress Britain’ is one of the best pieces I’ve read on the lame homegrown industry (our classy kinkiness doesn’t, somehow, seem to translate to our movies), and there are a lot of stills and an excellent colour section, although there’s no note of the films the colour stills are taken from. In short, the book’s superb, and is a must-have item for anyone interested in this kind of material. One minor gripe - the price, which is surely a bit steep. Then again, you’re probably supporting David Flint’s legal defence fund if you get this, so it’s all towards a good cause ...