Steve Erickson
Pink Narcissus knows the seductive appeal of locking oneself at home to explore one’s fantasy life. It also sees the dangers of doing so. James Bidgood directed it slowly over a seven-year period from 1963 to 1970. During this time, hardcore porn was legalized and the first stirrings of the gay liberation movement began. Both are reflected in Pink Narcissus. It also draws on the most overtly homoerotic films available in the ‘60s: experimental shorts like Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures, Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising, and Jean Genet’s Un Chant d’amour. Pink Narcissus dwells on the liminal spaces of erotic fantasy for a full 68 minutes, without any dialogue or straightforward narrative.
Bidgood shot the film in his apartment, creating elaborate sets there; among other locations, he simulated a seedy New York street, a Middle Eastern sheik’s harem, and a lush jungle. Pink Narcissus defies a plot summary, since there really isn’t one. Instead, it proceeds from one set piece to another, all highly stylized fantasies, and as lovely as those images are, they run screaming from anything resembling realism. Shot on a mix of Super-8 and 16mm, the cinematography is blurred and distorted, creating a psychedelic effect upon color. The selection of soundtrack music is key, since there’s no spoken language; it communicates through romantic orchestral music that might have soundtracked a Minnelli or Sirk melodrama.
Bobby Kendall plays the protagonist, an unnamed hustler whose flourishing interior life contrasts with the loneliness and sleaze that were the most visible parts of gay New York at the time. Still, even Pink Narcissus’s darker scenes are so stylized that they almost become romanticized. Street signs comment upon Kendall’s state of mind and fears about aging: “chicken” (a slang term for teenage boys), “going out of business,” “get ‘em while you’re hot.” Bidgood cuts to a close-up of the actor urinating in a dirty toilet bowl.
The notion that gayness was connected to narcissism was rooted in Freudian theory. From a contemporary perspective, Kendall’s own narcissism stems more from his own personality traits than his sexuality. It was also borne out of the social context: the time he spends enjoying staring at his own image in a room of mirrors reflects the difficulty of valuing his own worth outside this private space and acting out his fantasies safely. He gets great enjoyment from his body, as does Bidgood. In close-up, he tenderly caresses himself. Even so, narcissism is the theme to which the film keeps returning.
Bidgood would live to 88, dying of COVID in 2022. However, Pink Narcissus is dominated by the fear of aging. (The director was 30 when he began the shoot.) Kendall worries about his worth being tied to his physical attractiveness, which may be rational for a sex worker. The film’s obsessed with beauty, but well aware of the pitfalls of this preoccupation. One of its final images is a shattered mirror.
Pink Narcissus would be Bidgood’s only feature. In a way, it’s almost an accident that he became a director; photography was his main interest. Steeped in a campy aesthetic, Pink Narcissus’s production design and cinematography are its greatest strengths. (One would never realize just how small the apartment where Bidgood created his sets was.) Despite its personal nature, the production was unhappy. Final cut was taken away from Bidgood, and he refused credit for his work. In 1971, it was released with “Anonymous” as the producer, writer and director. (Rumors swirled about who actually made Pink Narcissus.) Even in Strand Releasing’s restored version, these credits remain. His efforts to keep making films were equally unhappy – his only other project, Beyond Closed Doors, was unfinished, with a short fragment included in the 1975 film Good Hot Stuff.
Pink Narcissus can be seen as a bridge between the ‘60s avant-garde and the rise of hardcore gay porn in the ‘70s. Many directors of the latter took their work seriously both as art and a political statement; they would’ve been unlikely to get mainstream films exploring the same themes made at the time produced. Bidgood’s imagery oscillates between the suggestive – a motorcycle’s handlebar aimed towards Kendall’s ass cheeks) and explicit (in the most memorable shot, Kendall ejaculates colorfully in extreme close-up). Its influence goes well beyond that period: the elaborately homoerotic sets of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Querelle owe something to Pink Narcissus.
Pink Narcissus stands up as something more than a period piece. It’s steeped in longing, while showcasing how a rich inner life can flourish even in the most repressive periods.
The new 4K restoration of “Pink Narcissus” opens Friday at Metrograph in New York City.
