Henri Pachard died. Henri who? Don’t worry, I hadn’t heard of him either. He was a porn film director, but judging by way of this clip of the 1984 Great Sexpectations[1], one with a sense of humor and an understanding of the film medium, which is rare in the genre,  but successfully displayed in John Byrum‘s Inserts, which to tell you the truth, wasn’t a sex film at all.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0m42FFeyDY&]

I am quite surprised by this clip of Great Sexpectations. I thought that scripted pornography was a thing of the past after the home video revolution, making way for boring wall to wall sex and killing the softcore and porno chic film industry.

Common wisdom has it that:

“by 1982, most pornographic films were being shot on the cheaper and more convenient medium of video tape. Many film directors resisted this shift at first because of the different image quality that video tape produced, however those who did change soon were collecting most of the industry’s profits since consumers overwhelmingly preferred the new format. The technology change happened quickly and completely when directors realised that continuing to shoot on film was no longer a profitable option. This change moved the films out of the theatres and into people’s private homes. This was the end of the age of big budget productions and the mainstreaming of pornography. It soon went back to its earthy roots and expanded to cover every fetish possible since filming was now so inexpensive. Instead of hundreds of pornographic films being made each year, thousands now were, including compilations of just the sex scenes from various videos.”

I haven’t been able whether Sexpectations was made for a theatrical release or was shot for video. Thanks to Joplinfantasy for uploading this.

Inserts (1975) – John Byrum

Inserts is World Cinema Classic #64. Moon in the Gutter did an article[2] on it.