The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies
Directed by: Wiktor Ericsson
We learn their dedication to their craft, from youngsters to
now, always looking for a way to make movies. Their lives spent between
apartments in New York and Sweden. Part of the film is their history; part is
current as Joe desperately tries to secure financing for making that “next
film”. As always, Peggy’s there to support him, give him advice and help make
that next film. There’s a nice moment where Peggy reads through Joe’s - kind of
sordid - script, after all there’s a difference in sexploitation in the
50-60’s, and reflects over the language the characters use, and suggests that
they use their cell phones to talk instead of calling from phone booths… after
all that’s what these modern women would do, says Peggy, lovingly bringing
contemporary times to her husbands script.
The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies is a gentle and heart-warming
piece of documentary cinema. Swedish-made documentaries recently, sometimes manage to get close
to their subjects, but very few have any dimension. They may tell interesting,
linear stories, but this one has the dimension that many others lack. I’m a
total sucker for documentaries about filmmakers who never stopped chasing the
dream, no matter what path it took them through - such as defying one's own morals with the trials and ordeals this brings - and this is such a film,
seriously a fantastic documentary, This is about real people trying to do what
they believe in and their desire to be accepted as filmmakers and the qualms
along the way... all the way through their filmmaking lives. Wiktor Ericsson’s
cameras have caught this perfectly. I’d be able to recite passages of this film
that are really moving, but I won’t. This is simply one of those “Must See”
documentaries that you Must See!
Sarno is referred to as the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street
and that’s wonderful words to remember him by. Because what made Joe Sarno’s
films stand out amongst others in the niche depended on two facts. The way he
wrote his characters, with depth and dimension, the way he always focused on
female sexuality and the fact that his films often used the scenes of sex to
make his audience think about difficult subject matters… guilt being one of
them! Guilt for one’s own sexuality is a pretty heavy topic to drop into a
sexploitation film, but that’s precisely where Sarno’s balance lied, tell a
story, make them think, even if it’s under the guise of sexploitation… until
hardcore cinema ruined everything for Joe and so many other grand masters of exploitation
cinema.
The main body of insight comes form interviews with Joe and
his wife Peggy. Although people like John Waters, Jamie Gillis and Annie Sprinkle,
do participate, the most interesting interviews are with film historians, film critics
and experts who give a fair and honest picture of Sarno’s films and what they
meant at the time, the imprint they will leave in cinema history. I love when experts and academics are used to reflect upon
the importance of low budget and exploitation cinema filmmakers that others
sneer snobbishly at. A big part of this film is all about being accepted.
Accepting Joe Sarno as the filmmaker with ambitions that he really was. A
topic Peggy and Joe Sarno obviously had to deal with all their lives. The
closing scene is poetic justice at it’s finest.
Yes, I know that Sarno is responsible for one of the most
famous Swedish pop-cultural adult films of all time. Everyone refers to “that
film” at some point or other. But that’s not what this film is about, that’s
not the Joseph W. Sarno of this documentary, and I feel that bringing that into
this piece would be disrespectful to the Sarnos, as this is a film about the
people, not what they did.
Sweden, 2013
Documentary, 80 min
There are two kinds of filmmakers in this world. The kind that make films under
the illusion that it will make them rich and famous, and the kind that make them
for the want of telling a story and the sake of art. Fast forward a lifetime,
and the filmmakers wanting to be famous will become bitter, whilst the artist,
or auteur as they may be called, will be moved that we remember their work.
The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies, tells the story of Joeseph and Peggy Sarno. Joe’s an old-school exploitation filmmaker with ambitions and
Peggy is his dedicated wife, actress, all-round crewmember and Cicero of this
warm document on their life together. That’s important, they where always together.
Together through it all.
We learn their dedication to their craft, from youngsters to
now, always looking for a way to make movies. Their lives spent between
apartments in New York and Sweden. Part of the film is their history; part is
current as Joe desperately tries to secure financing for making that “next
film”. As always, Peggy’s there to support him, give him advice and help make
that next film. There’s a nice moment where Peggy reads through Joe’s - kind of
sordid - script, after all there’s a difference in sexploitation in the
50-60’s, and reflects over the language the characters use, and suggests that
they use their cell phones to talk instead of calling from phone booths… after
all that’s what these modern women would do, says Peggy, lovingly bringing
contemporary times to her husbands script.
The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies is a gentle and heart-warming
piece of documentary cinema. Swedish-made documentaries recently, sometimes manage to get close
to their subjects, but very few have any dimension. They may tell interesting,
linear stories, but this one has the dimension that many others lack. I’m a
total sucker for documentaries about filmmakers who never stopped chasing the
dream, no matter what path it took them through - such as defying one's own morals with the trials and ordeals this brings - and this is such a film,
seriously a fantastic documentary, This is about real people trying to do what
they believe in and their desire to be accepted as filmmakers and the qualms
along the way... all the way through their filmmaking lives. Wiktor Ericsson’s
cameras have caught this perfectly. I’d be able to recite passages of this film
that are really moving, but I won’t. This is simply one of those “Must See”
documentaries that you Must See!
There’s something completely fascinating with many of the
old sexploitation filmmakers, as so many of them have a very distinct idea of
where the line between art and smut goes. Filmmakers like Jean Rollin, Jess
Franco, Jose Mojica Marins etc. – all of them low budget filmmakers with some
great idea’s of what cinema is, and all with their very distinct style – all of
them where forced into directing pornography during their careers. Something
that lay heavy shadows on their artistic intentions, and the majority of them
dealt with some serious frustrations over being forced into areas of filmmaking
that weren’t where they wanted to go. But they had to, all for the sake of
getting a shot at making that next film.
Sarno is referred to as the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street
and that’s wonderful words to remember him by. Because what made Joe Sarno’s
films stand out amongst others in the niche depended on two facts. The way he
wrote his characters, with depth and dimension, the way he always focused on
female sexuality and the fact that his films often used the scenes of sex to
make his audience think about difficult subject matters… guilt being one of
them! Guilt for one’s own sexuality is a pretty heavy topic to drop into a
sexploitation film, but that’s precisely where Sarno’s balance lied, tell a
story, make them think, even if it’s under the guise of sexploitation… until
hardcore cinema ruined everything for Joe and so many other grand masters of exploitation
cinema.
Interview snippets with a teary eyed Joe saying things like
“I thought that everyone had forgotten about me…” as we follow the couple to
retrospectives of his work, together with Peggy’s telling of how their love was
never really accepted by her family… and definitely not the films they where
making, all add up to make a very emotional film. One can’t but sit and wonder
if Sarno had left a legacy of the same importance if he had managed to break
into accepted cinema? There’s a bitter sweet conflict within the reality that
some directors would never have been remembered if they had broken through into
mainstream, and in their alienation only really found their art.
The main body of insight comes form interviews with Joe and
his wife Peggy. Although people like John Waters, Jamie Gillis and Annie Sprinkle,
do participate, the most interesting interviews are with film historians, film critics
and experts who give a fair and honest picture of Sarno’s films and what they
meant at the time, the imprint they will leave in cinema history. I love when experts and academics are used to reflect upon
the importance of low budget and exploitation cinema filmmakers that others
sneer snobbishly at. A big part of this film is all about being accepted.
Accepting Joe Sarno as the filmmaker with ambitions that he really was. A
topic Peggy and Joe Sarno obviously had to deal with all their lives. The
closing scene is poetic justice at it’s finest. 
Yes, I know that Sarno is responsible for one of the most
famous Swedish pop-cultural adult films of all time. Everyone refers to “that
film” at some point or other. But that’s not what this film is about, that’s
not the Joseph W. Sarno of this documentary, and I feel that bringing that into
this piece would be disrespectful to the Sarnos, as this is a film about the
people, not what they did.
