Most of the time the term ‘art-porn’ isn’t quite correct. It refers to explicit sexuality in films that are otherwise ‘normal’ movies, with the ‘porn’ term used because erections and real sex are normally the preserve of that genre. However, the likes of Shortbus, Intimacy, Romance and others can’t really be considered porn. Indeed, many of these movies seem absolutely determined that despite how explicit they are, what they’re showing must not be considered erotic in any way, as if admitting that would diminish their legitimacy (Shortbus being an exception, which isn’t afraid to suggest sex can be fun).
However, Noel Alejandro’s short film Thank You, legitimately is ‘art porn’, joining the likes of Travis Mathews’ I Want Your Love and TheBlackSpark Project as something that is unabashedly erotic but aspires to be more than solely about getting people off. The setup is classic porn – two men come together and have very explicit sex, with the majority of the running time taken up with foreplay, BJs and screwing. In other ways though it’s something a little more. It has a simple but effective plot, decent acting and a genuine filmmaker’s interest in lighting, shot composition and editing.
The setup is fairly simple – one guy goes to another’s flat for a hook-up. They talk for a while, with one looking at the other’s modelling photos, before heading to the bedroom and getting sexy. At the end there’s a short coda to wrap up the story and demonstrate an emotional connection (or possibly lack thereof) between the two men.
What sets it apart from most ‘porn’ is that far more thought has been put into what sex is and how to show it. Normally in gay adult movies it’s about the mechanics, and 99% of the time those mechanics are shown in an incredibly formulaic way – two guys meet, kiss, strip, give each other BJs, fuck (and the first to get a BJ is normally the top), they both ejaculate, the end. Thank You goes through some of those same steps, but it’s just as interested in what is going on inside the men, their growing sexual excitement, the frisson of eroticism as they lock eyes and their mutual enjoyment.
It also removes some of the things that we may be used to in mainstream porn but which underline how fake it is, such as that nearly always the top pulls out before ejaculating on the other person. Altering things like that may not sound like a big difference, but it adds something to Thank You that is undoubtedly incredibly erotic and feels far more real than ‘normal’ porn. It underscores that sex is about two people and not just de-personalised hunks of meat fornicating. In fact, it will get some people wondering whether the inevitable objectification in normal porn is more problematic than we might usually wish to consider.
Thank You may feature two good looking, fit guys with above average-sized penises, but in other respects it feels like they’re real people having actual sex, rather than the typical scenario where it’s difficult not to be aware there’s a director telling the guys what to do and that the performers are going through a set of stock motions so they can get a paycheque at the end. Some porn studios, such as Cockyboys, have attempted to bring something more to their scenes, but it’s rare to find something like Thank You, which can legitimately be classed as a short film and as pornography, while fully fitting the bill for both.
Filmmaker Noel Alejandro has said that he aims to bring ‘dignity and quality’ to gay adult films. He undoubtedly succeeds with Thank You. It is a very sexy short film, and it can’t help make you wish that rather than sheer quantity, more porn studios and filmmakers thought about the quality of what they were producing.
Overall Verdict: It’s rare to find a film that simultaneously feels like an art film and like pornography, but Thank You fits that bill, thanks to a sensitive and thoughtful look at sex beyond the mechanical, instead focusing on the sensitive and genuinely erotic.
Reviewer: Tim Isaac
Gay?
Exciting?
Dramatic?
Funny?
Romantic?
Scary?
Sexy?
Family Friendly?
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