Review of Myra Breckinridge

Introduction

With boundaries of taste, decency and disgust being constantly redrawn, it`s odd to imagine an age when even the suggestion of sexual activity through the medium of cinema raised eyebrows everywhere. After the home video pornography explosion of the eighties, and the subsequent infiltration of explicit sexual `content` into mainstream cinema ever since, sex just isn`t really much of a big deal any more.

The DVD release of Myra Breckinridge comes with a jacket that suggests that this is the most unbelievably provocative and disgusting piece of filth that you`ve ever seen in your life. It isn`t. Whereas the quotes on the front cover may proclaim the film `outrageously vulgar` and `beyond belief`, one has to remember that they are 35 years old - and therefore should be ignored accordingly.

What is obvious however, is that such a film would have caused a bit of a stir upon its original release in 1970. The film begins with Myron (a part played film critic Rex Reed) having a sex change and becoming Myra, played by the undeniably stunning Raquel Welch, whose subsequent plan is to travel to Hollywood and destroy the American Male `in all it`s particulars`.

Completely superfluously, cinematic legend Mae West turns up as an over sexed talent agent, the 77 year old having dragged out of retirement for the role - possibly the biggest source of controversy for a film which proclaims itself to be `one of the most notorious ever made`. Unfortunately, it`s also one of the most disappointing.

Video

The transfer is surprisingly good for a film of this age. The picture, whereas not perfect, is as good as could be reasonably expected.

The main action in the movie, presented in 16 x 9 Anamorphic Widescreen, is intercut with a great deal of clips from other films dating back to the `golden age of Hollywood` (director Michael Sarne having raided the twentieth century fox archives) in order to depict something violent or sexual which just couldn`t be shown on screen in 1970. The quality of these vary considerably, almost directly related to the age of the clips themselves - for example, the Laurel and Hardy snippets are not great quality visually, but that is to be anticipated.

Audio

The soundtrack is perfectly adequate quality in Dolby 2.0. One of the only clever things about the entire movie is having sound from the main part of the film over action from one of the old clips (and visa versa), and it`s a technique which is much more impressive with decent sound quality.

Keeping up the `Porn lite` feel of the film, when not making use of songs from other movies, the soundtrack mainly falls into the faux-jazz category. The use of the Shirley Temple song at the beginning and end is a nice addition, but the rest is certainly nothing to write home about. Well, maybe a text message, but certainly not a letter.

Features

The `extra features` - if you can really call them that - are both the theatrical release and director`s cut versions of the film, complete with full audio commentary from Raquel Welch and Michael Sarne respectively.

Raquel Welch`s commentary is amusing, if only to hear her pour scorn on Mae West (who had top billing in the picture, despite Welch being the leading star) and consign the entire movie to the dustbin of history. You also feel a certain amount of empathy with her, considering she plainly has no idea what the film is supposed to be about or why anyone even bothered to make it.

If you expected the Director`s cut to throw light onto the hazy plot and ultimate point to the film, you`re out of luck. It is almost identical to the original version with very few minor details changed - for example, the last scene appears in black and white as a homage to `The wizard of Oz`. Without any substantial difference to the film itself, you almost wonder why they even bothered to include both versions on the disc.

The director`s commentary is, however, extremely worthwhile if you`re going to purchase this DVD, simply because Sarne explains the whole point of it - almost as if trying to justify why he spent months of his life and career on a film with, seemingly, no artistic or cultural merit whatsoever. In fact, when the film reaches its conclusion, he seems to realise that none of it would make sense to the average Joe and simply says of the supposed correct interpretation "I thought that was obvious? If not, we`ll have to shoot the whole thing again". That one comment is funnier and more telling than any line in the film.

Conclusion

The problem with the film as a whole is that it tries to do too many things at once, and subsequently fails in all of them. As a beginner`s guide to feminism, it never gets past page one; in trying to be pornographic, it becomes embarrassing and, in employing old clips from `classic` films in a euphemistic fashion, it just makes you wish you were watching one of them instead.

Yet most damningly of all, here in the year 2005 with the benefit of hindsight, it just appears naïve and childish. For a film that attempts the rather adult subject of satirising Hollywood and the male dominance within, `Myra Breckinridge` is less Private Eye and more The Beano.

With all of this in mind, you feel slightly sorry for some of those associated with the film. For example, John Huston, an esteemed and Oscar winning director whose list of credits include `The Maltese Falcon` and `The African Queen`, and the only man to have directed both his daughter (Angelica) and father (Walter) to Academy award wins, managed to tarnish his reputation considerably. Admittedly, a satire of the Hollywood system starring big players from the golden era sounds like a project worth being in on paper. It`s just a shame that the concept for this one seems to have been written on toilet paper.

There will be a few who remember the film from its original release and liked the slightly controversial resonance that it had at the time. For those people, the DVD package could be a lot worse - both commentaries are worthwhile viewing and shed light on the entire picture as a whole. For everyone else, there`s a not so subtle message when the extras are better than the movie itself -

Keep well away.