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Released by: Pathfinder Pictures
Released on: 11/22/2005
Director: Dag Yngvesson
Cast: Bill Margold, Jeanna Fine, Selena, Sean Michaels, Kirsty Waay, Jim South, Alex Sanders
Year: 2000
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The Movie:
The wild and wacky world of x-rated entertainment is the topic of Dag Yngvesson's feature length documentary, Rated-X: A Journey Through Porn. Like a lot of us, he grew up watching some of these films but what he didn't realize is that, living in Los Angeles, the bulk of it was made roughly ten miles from his home. With that in mind, armed with a camcorder and a curious mind, he headed into the black hole that is that industry to try and get a better understanding of what makes it tick, who works in it, and why.
His first stop is with Bill Margold, who, with a sense of humor and a dry wit, explains how he got involved in the industry and what he's done to try and make it a better place for the performers. Bill's been involved for a long time and has more or less done everything there is to do within the confines of the genre, and his thoughts and explanations are interesting and honest.
Margold is hardly the only one put in front of Yngvesson's camera, however. We also get to see infamous World Modelling Agency man in charge Jim South working the phones and trying to put together some deals to acquire new talent, to feed the always hungry industry that seems to devour girls faster than the agencies can keep them coming in. Jeanna Fine also gets a lot of screen time here, and we get to see her not only working in the industry but also interacting with her son and her husband, shedding some very human light on someone who we usually don't see from that personal of an angle.
Yngvesson also covers the issue of race within the industry. Sean Michael's is interviewed and his thoughts on how and why white's dominate the business both in front of and behind the camera are pretty interesting and will make you think a little bit. Yngvesson should be commended for 'going there' with this one, as although a lot of people know that these race issues exist in the business, not a lot of people will fess up to it or attempt to explain the reasoning behind it, as skewed as it may be.
Toni English also sits down with Yngvesson, to explain what it's like to be a female director making movies for what is very much a male dominated audience. She proves to be an intelligent woman with a good head on her shoulders, and again, her interview is pretty interesting.
Yngvesson himself gets the chance to work as a camera man on the set of a production at one point. His experiences prove that there's more to capturing the act than simply standing there holding a camera recording. He demonstrates how difficult it is to capture the angles properly and keep things in focus when the subjects are moving around as much as they are.
Jeff Coldwater, Damien Michaels, Alex Sanders, Gina Everett (better known as Selena), Nena Anderson and others all sit down with Yngvesson and give their take on why they're doing what they do and how they feel about it all. Some of them cover what their family members think of their professions, others talk about casting couch director tactics and most of them discuss the money involved in what they do and not it as a big example of why they're doing this in the first place.
It's interesting to watch Yngvesson's perceptions change as the movie plays out. He starts off covering a lot of the usual aspects of what people think about when they think about this type of material, the STD's, the sexism and the drug abuse but he ends up uncovering some interesting stories of real people.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.33.1 fullframe image is perfectly watchable even if it isn't reference quality. The documentary was shot on video and sometimes under less than ideal lighting conditions which results in a few shots looking a little on the dark side and some of the darker areas on the picture do exhibit some mild compression artifacts but for the most part, the transfer suits the film just fine and though it's not perfect, there aren't any seriously glaring issues with it either.
The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix is decent enough. The narration comes through nice and clear as does the score. Some of the dialogue is slightly on the muffled side but there aren't any problems understanding what any of the interviewees are saying when they're on camera.
In the extra features section of this release you'll find two bonus interviews: the first is with the one and only Ron Jeremy, and the second is with Jenna Jameson and Vivid Video head honcho Steve Hirsch.
The Final Word:
Rated X is an interesting and impartial look at the adult film industry that completely strips away any of the glamor associated with it and presents its findings with a very human point of view. Pathfinder's release could have looked better but isn't bad considering the source material and low budget, and the bonus interviews are a nice extra.