Product Details

• Actors: Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Babbit, Fenton Bailey, Jami Bernard, Bruce Cohen
• Directors: Lesli Klainberg, Lisa Ades
• Producers: Alison Palmer Bourke, Amy Nieporent, Ann Rose, Caroline Kaplan, Chandra Simon
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Ifc
• DVD Release Date: January 1, 2008
• Run Time: 199 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000WMFZNI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,909 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Indie Sex" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Indie Sex by award-winning filmmakers Lisa Ades and Lesli Klainberg explores how films have provided a forum to discover society’s deepest and darkest sexual fantasies played out on the big screen. Divided into three parts – Indie Sex: Censored, Indie Sex: Teens and Indie Sex: Extremes – the series delves into sex in movies through innovative verite footage, provocative film clips and compelling on-camera interviews with some of the industry’s leading actors, writers and directors.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, Amusing, and Interesting Documentary, May 12, 2009

By 

Joshua Miller "Josh" (Coeur d'Alene,ID) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Indie Sex (DVD)

Indie Sex is a four-part documentary about the evolution of sex in cinema. Produced by the Independent Film Channel, Indie Sex features John Cameron Mitchell, Dita Von Teese, Rosanna Arquette, Peter Sarsgaard, Tatum O' Neal, and others discussing their thoughts and opinions on everything sexual.

Part one is the segment "Censored," in which filmmakers and critics discuss the necessity of sex in cinema. We also get to see examples of early stag films and see the subtle ways filmmakers would imply sex to get past the Production Code Sensors. "Censored" talks about the introduction of the NC-17 rating (first bestowed upon Henry & June) and how Showgirls (Fully Exposed Edition) ultimately ruined the NC-17 rating's chance of getting a mainstream audience.

"Teens" covers sex in teen films and how it wasn't until the 1960s that this subject was explored. It talks about Hollywood studios seeing profit in teen sex comedies like American Pie - Unrated (Widescreen Collector's Edition). Of course, the impact of Kids on the teen-sex subgenre is discussed in depth, as well as the early `90s starting to explore teenage homosexuality.

"Extremes" talks about pedophilia, S&M, and unsimulated sex in films. Stanley Kubrick's Lolita as well as Adrian Lyne's Lolita are discussed at length. This is also covers fetishism and unsimulated sex in films like 9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version and Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny.

Finally, "Taboos" (a 30-minute segment) covers much of the same ground including the `70s detaching romance from sex...Here the films of John Waters, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg are the main topics.

Much of the same material is discussed in an older and superior documentary called The Celluloid Closet (Special Edition), although that mostly explores homosexuality in cinema rather than just sex, so this is almost an extension of that material. I found Indie Sex to be entertaining, funny, and educational...Some may find it "enlightening," but I already knew much of what was talked about. The bit about stag films was new to me though and rather surprising too.

My biggest problem with Indie Sex is how repetitive it gets. I wasn't a fan of John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus (Unrated Edition) already and it's discussed various times in different segments. This also occurs with Last Tango in Paris, almost like the filmmakers ran out of new ideas and fell back on the old ones.

Beyond that, Indie Sex is a very watchable, not-too-graphic documentary. The commentators provide some very amusing insight and besides some well-known facts scattered in here and the typical "why is sex more controversial than violence?" pep-talk; many will find something new and surprising by watching this. Worth checking out, for sure.

GRADE: B+

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent survey of sexuality in films., June 7, 2010

By 

DBuddha - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Indie Sex (DVD)

While not comprehensive, this is an excellent beginners guide to understanding how & why sexuality is portrayed in film. Our great country has its strengths, but one of our weaknesses is our Victorian inability to maturely and intellectually explore or confront issues of a sexual nature. Such issues are interwoven into the human experience whether we approve of them or not. They are essential to making us human, and consequently, are inescapable. Thus, we find that many film-makers are attempting to confront those issues which society at large is unwilling to do. I would love to see a more thorough follow-up to this series, but at least this is a good start.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indie Sex, April 7, 2010

By 

KazumiBlue "Kaz" (Arizona) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Indie Sex (DVD)

One of the most interesting documentaries I have ever watched, certainly it blows the History channel and VH1's sex shows out of the water. Goes through sex in movies from the earliest stag films (seriously, humans have always been kinkier than you'd imagine) right onto current times. Riveting the whole way through. ^_^