Editing Pink Narcissus

{{short description|1971 film by James Bidgood}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Pink Narcissus
| image          = Pink Narcissus FilmPoster.jpeg
| caption        =
| director       = [[James Bidgood (filmmaker)|James Bidgood]]
| producer       = James Bidgood
| writer         = James Bidgood
| cinematography = James Bidgood
| editing        = Martin Jay Sadoff
| music          = Martin Jay Sadoff<br />Gary Goch
| starring       = Bobby Kendall<br />[[Charles Ludlam]]<ref name="Edgecomb">{{cite web |last1=Edgecomb |first1=Sean Fredric |title=Camping out with James Bidgood: The Auteur of Pink Narcissus Tells All |url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/camping-james-bidgood-auteur-pink-narcissus-tells/#.WyqlVKdKjIU |date=1 May 2006 |publisher=brightlightsfilm.com |accessdate=20 June 2018}}</ref>
| distributor    = [[Sherpix]]
| released       = {{Film date|1971|05|24}}
| runtime        = 71 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $27,000 (estimated)
}}

'''''Pink Narcissus''''' is a 1971 American [[arthouse]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] directed by [[James Bidgood (filmmaker)|James Bidgood]]<ref name="NYT-20220207">{{cite news |last=Genzlinger |first=Neil |title=James Bidgood, a Master of Gay Photography, Dies at 88 - In addition to his elaborately staged images of gay fantasies, he made the film "Pink Narcissus," a cult classic released anonymously in 1971. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/arts/james-bidgood-dead.html |date=February 7, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=February 8, 2022 }}</ref> and starring (unknowns) Bobby Kendall, Don Brooks and stage actor [[Charles Ludlam]]. It visualizes the erotic fantasies of a [[gay]] male [[prostitute]].

== Premise ==
Between visits from his keeper, or John, a handsome male prostitute (Bobby Kendall), alone in his apartment, lounges, fantasizing about worlds where he is the central character. For example, he pictures himself as a [[matador]], a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] slave boy and the emperor who condemns him, and the keeper of a male harem for whom another male performs a [[belly dance]].

== Production ==
In a 2005 interview, Bidgood enumerated some of the film's inspirations, such as the British film [[The Red Shoes (1948 film)|''The Red Shoes'']] and actress [[Maria Montez]]. Most of the film's extras were people actor Don Brooks found on the streets when he went out of the set on "talent searches".<ref>Edgecomb, Sean F. (May 2006) [https://archive.today/20130110175716/http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/52/bidgoodiv.htm Camping out with James Bidgood] Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2024.</ref>

The film is mostly shot on [[8 mm film]]<ref name="Gallagher">{{cite web |last1=Gallagher |first1=Paul |title=James Bidgood's Sumptuous and Subversive 'Pink Narcissus', 1971 |url=https://dangerousminds.net/comments/james_bidgood_pink_narcissus |date=4 July 2011 |publisher=dangerousminds.net |accessdate=20 June 2018}}</ref> with bright, otherworldly lighting and intense colors. Aside from its last, climactic scene, which was shot in a downtown [[Manhattan]] [[loft]], it was produced in its entirety (including outdoor scenes) in Bidgood's small [[New York City]] apartment over a seven-year (from 1963 to 1970) period and ultimately released without the consent of the director, who therefore had himself credited as ''Anonymous''. He said in the interview, "See, why I took my name off of it was that I was protesting, which I'd heard at the time that's what you did..."<ref name="Gallagher" />

== Provenance ==
Because the name of the filmmaker was not widely known, there were rumors that [[Andy Warhol]] was behind it.<ref name="Edgecomb" /> In the mid-1990s, writer [[Bruce Benderson]] began a search for its maker based on several leads and finally verified that it was James Bidgood, who was still living in Manhattan and was working on a film script.<ref>{{cite book|first=Bruce|last=Benderson|title=James Bidgood|publisher=Benedikt Taschen Verlag|date=1999|isbn=3-8228-7427-2}}</ref> In 1999, a book researched and written by Benderson was published by [[Taschen]] about Bidgood's body of photographic and filmic work.

Bidgood's unmistakably kitschy style was later imitated and refined by artists such as [[Pierre et Gilles]].{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

In 2003, the film was re-released by [[Strand Releasing]] as the film had its 35th anniversary in 2006.<ref name="Edgecomb" />

== Music ==
* [[Joseph Haydn]]: ''[[Horn Concerto No. 1 (Haydn)|Horn Concerto No. 1]]''
* [[Modest Mussorgsky]]: ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]''
* [[Modest Mussorgsky]]: ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]''
* [[Sergei Prokofiev]]: ''[[Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)|Alexander Nevsky]]''
* [[Kenneth Gaburo]]: "Lemon Drops"
* Genaro Nunez, Banda Taurina, Rosalio Juarez: "Corazon Hispano"

== Restoration ==
In 2025, indie distributor [[Strand Releasing]] restored the movie in [[4K resolution]] and will screen it in April 2025, as part of [[New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival|NewFest]] "So Obsessed" spring series in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scheetz |first1=Cameron |title=Indulge your twink fantasies with ‘Pink Narcissus,’ returning to the big screen more dazzling than ever |url=https://www.queerty.com/indulge-your-twink-fantasies-with-pink-narcissus-returning-to-the-big-screen-more-dazzling-than-ever-20250311/ |website=Queerty |access-date=17 March 2025 |date=11 March 2025}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of American films of 1971]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0067580|Pink Narcissus}}

[[Category:1971 films]]
[[Category:1970s erotic drama films]]
[[Category:American erotic drama films]]
[[Category:American avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:1971 LGBTQ-related films]]
[[Category:1970s LGBTQ-related drama films]]
[[Category:1970s avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:1971 drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot in New York City]]
[[Category:Films about male prostitution in the United States]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s American films]]
[[Category:English-language erotic drama films]]


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