CAFE FLESH
Writer:Jerry Stahl, Stephen Sayadian
Director:Stephen Sayadian
Starring: Andy Nichols, Michelle Bauer, Paul McGibboney, Marie Sharp
Availability: DVD Available from VCA
Rating:
Wait, you might be saying to yourself. Is that a perfect score for a porn flick? Indeed, fellow readers. Cafe Flesh is one of a handful of porn films that actually qualifies as simply a great film. Films like Behind The Green Door, The Opening Of Misty Beethoven, The Devil In Miss Jones, Femmes De Sade also belong to this group. These are movies that go beyond just being stroke material, and are willing to push the boundaries and create a certain type of transgressive art that challenges the mind as well as stimulates your John Thomas.
Stephen Sayadian (otherwise known as Rinse Dream) was one of the few porn pioneers of the 80s who used the medium as a way to express some pretty radical views. Novelist/junkie/Alf scribe Jerry Stahl joined him on this journey. Together, the two created films that almost dared you to masturbate. They were surrealist nightmares, feeling like something Salvador Dali would have experienced in his wildest wet dreams. Nightdreams, Cafe Flesh, Party Doll A Go Go, and Dr. Caligari are all essential titles in any adult film library. Dr. Caligari was his only non-porn, but it is still very much a sexual movie. There is no underground director who made movies like this guy.
This, of course, brings me to tonight's flick, Cafe Flesh. This is easily Sayadian's most well known work, and also a classic in the midnight movie circuit among non-porn fans as well. This movie echoes a more hardcore version of Liquid Sky at times. It's a film that just screams new wave, but it doesn't feel dated. Stephen has such a keen visual eye and an absolute love of the absurd, that the movie becomes not of any time. It's just an absolutely brilliant vision. At times it resembles dadaist theater more than anything resembling a true movie. In fact, I'd love to see a stage version of this movie.
Cafe Flesh takes place in a post-apocalyptic society where people are divided between Sex Positives and Sex Negatives. The Sex Negatives are unable to have sex, so they take out their sexual frustrations by going to Cafe Flesh, a place where Sex Positives are forced to perform sexual acts for the Sex Negatives. They turn the sex scenes into real performance art, though. In one sex scene, you have three grown men in high chairs dressed as babies. In another, you have a man dressed like a pencil, and in another, a man is dressed as a rat milkman. Probably my favorite is the naked secretary who just keeps repeating "Would you like me to take a memo?" It's the epitome of a non sequitur. Add to this the neon-colored backgrounds, and you have a movie that tackles sex in ways that were never touched on before.
Cafe Flesh does seem like a natural extension to the previous film Stephen worked on, Nightdreams. While that film was pretty much wall to wall sex, Cafe Flesh took the surrealist ideas explored in Nightdreams and made a much more plot-driven film. Most of the sex scenes are quite short, so you never feel like they get in the way of the story. Andrew Nichols as Max Melodramatic, the MC of Cafe, gives one of the best performances I've ever seen in an adult film. He's perfectly slimy, and he delivers his lines in a way that just oozes charisma. Michelle Bauer is another familiar face here (credited as Pia Snow.) She is quite strong in her role, and though there are rumors that a body double was used in her sex scene, that doesn't detract from what is an otherwise exceptional performance.
One unfortunate thing about the Cafe Flesh DVD is the omission of a scene that was trimmed because VCA felt it was too violent (though it was never cut from the VHS release.) It involves the fate of Max Melodramatic, and honestly, the violence is more implied than anything. There are some overseas copies that have the original ending, but the transfers are so awful, you're better sticking with this one. Unless you are familiar with the movie, you're not going to miss anything. It's still a satisfying viewing for all cult film aficionados. There were a couple sequels made several years later that are also worth checking out, though they don't match the artistry of the original.
It's truly hard to put the experience of watching Cafe Flesh into words. It's a deliciously weird movie, which is even more shocking when you realize this was put out by a major distributor. I can't really recommend it as a true porn flick because the sex scenes are short, and they really aren't the focus of the film. Stephen Sayadian wanted to make his films challenging. He didn't want to be stuck doing these types of movies, so he liked to fuck with his audience. He was a true artist, and Cafe Flesh is nothing short of a true art film. It's a true masterpiece, and one that bears my highest of recommendations.
Until next time, my fellow freaks and weirdos...
This, of course, brings me to tonight's flick, Cafe Flesh. This is easily Sayadian's most well known work, and also a classic in the midnight movie circuit among non-porn fans as well. This movie echoes a more hardcore version of Liquid Sky at times. It's a film that just screams new wave, but it doesn't feel dated. Stephen has such a keen visual eye and an absolute love of the absurd, that the movie becomes not of any time. It's just an absolutely brilliant vision. At times it resembles dadaist theater more than anything resembling a true movie. In fact, I'd love to see a stage version of this movie.
Cafe Flesh takes place in a post-apocalyptic society where people are divided between Sex Positives and Sex Negatives. The Sex Negatives are unable to have sex, so they take out their sexual frustrations by going to Cafe Flesh, a place where Sex Positives are forced to perform sexual acts for the Sex Negatives. They turn the sex scenes into real performance art, though. In one sex scene, you have three grown men in high chairs dressed as babies. In another, you have a man dressed like a pencil, and in another, a man is dressed as a rat milkman. Probably my favorite is the naked secretary who just keeps repeating "Would you like me to take a memo?" It's the epitome of a non sequitur. Add to this the neon-colored backgrounds, and you have a movie that tackles sex in ways that were never touched on before.
Cafe Flesh does seem like a natural extension to the previous film Stephen worked on, Nightdreams. While that film was pretty much wall to wall sex, Cafe Flesh took the surrealist ideas explored in Nightdreams and made a much more plot-driven film. Most of the sex scenes are quite short, so you never feel like they get in the way of the story. Andrew Nichols as Max Melodramatic, the MC of Cafe, gives one of the best performances I've ever seen in an adult film. He's perfectly slimy, and he delivers his lines in a way that just oozes charisma. Michelle Bauer is another familiar face here (credited as Pia Snow.) She is quite strong in her role, and though there are rumors that a body double was used in her sex scene, that doesn't detract from what is an otherwise exceptional performance.
One unfortunate thing about the Cafe Flesh DVD is the omission of a scene that was trimmed because VCA felt it was too violent (though it was never cut from the VHS release.) It involves the fate of Max Melodramatic, and honestly, the violence is more implied than anything. There are some overseas copies that have the original ending, but the transfers are so awful, you're better sticking with this one. Unless you are familiar with the movie, you're not going to miss anything. It's still a satisfying viewing for all cult film aficionados. There were a couple sequels made several years later that are also worth checking out, though they don't match the artistry of the original.
It's truly hard to put the experience of watching Cafe Flesh into words. It's a deliciously weird movie, which is even more shocking when you realize this was put out by a major distributor. I can't really recommend it as a true porn flick because the sex scenes are short, and they really aren't the focus of the film. Stephen Sayadian wanted to make his films challenging. He didn't want to be stuck doing these types of movies, so he liked to fuck with his audience. He was a true artist, and Cafe Flesh is nothing short of a true art film. It's a true masterpiece, and one that bears my highest of recommendations.
Until next time, my fellow freaks and weirdos...
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