Pink Narcissus — Pink Narcissus( Blu Ray)
Released in the early 70s, Pink Narcissus is both an important and daring art film, as well as an impactful piece of homoeroticism. It charts the daydreams/ fantasy of a male prostitute, the seventy-one-minute film utilising an otherworldly colour palette, a hazy, hallucinogenic, though at times rewarding, unfolding, and a general air of lush & sensual unpredictability. Here, rather surprisingly, from the BFI is a Blu-ray release of the film. It features a new 4k scan, a new introduction, a few archive extras, and for this first edition Illustrated booklet- with new & old essays, etc.
Pink Narcissus is a US production from the year 1971. It was directed and written by Manhattan-born photographer James Bidgood. This was his one and only director's credit, aside from doing a segment in Good Hot Stuff (1975), which was a gay film compilation.
There is little or no formal plot to the film, or much formal dialogue, and it really is just presenting one erotic scenario after another. Yet, even as a heterosexual man, it remains an intriguing and compelling watch- which manages to balance perfectly tripped-out & heady dreaminess with moments of the jarring and surprising.
The film focuses on male prostitute Pan, played by dark-haired model Bobby Kendal. He spends most of his time locked away in a lushly camp and grand apartment, with the film highlighting one fantasy after another. These move from gents' toilets- where there’s a lot of head cradling, foaming half drownings, and rapidly cut head-on ejaculations. Onto matador and human bull encounters, Roman slave boy encounters, Middle Eastern harems, out in the green grass, and out on a very stagey-looking street.
Yes, the air of eroticism is always high, but it never becomes too overtly in it’s portray of full-on arousal, penetration, or release- with use of sheets, suggestion, and off screen slight of hand. With only a few moments of effective jarring/ In your face-ness used to great effect.
The use of colour palette, subtle-yet effective set design, and costume- or lack of it- is artfully done, yet it never feels pretentious or too high-brow, with the whole thing very much tied to having a vibe of hallucinogenic and trippy dreamscape.
On the extras side, we have one new thing. Introduction by Todd Wiener (23.31) UCLA’s Motion Picture Curator, Todd Wiener, introduces the restoration of Pink Narcissus at BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. He moves from talking about the other LGBTQIA+ films that have had recent restoration. Giving a bio of director James Bidgood, we find out he started as a photographer, dress designer, and sometimes drag queen. We find out he filmed the picture over seven years- largely in his own New York Dept. Wiener and his colleagues discuss the work done on the print, and we find out one of the more particular issues was cat hair on the print- Bidgood had eight cats in his apartment. Oh, and we find out what happened to lead actor Bobby Kendal.
On the archive side, we have the following: Interview with James Bidgood ( 33.31) from 2007, interviewed by writer/ director Brian Robinson. Q&A with John Waters and Kelly McKaig (8.15) filmed after a 2025 screening of the picture. Pink Narcissus with Jonathan D Katz (38.57), a 2011 Q&A hosted by the curator and art historian, with an introduction from Ira Sachs. There’s a restored trailer, and an image gallery featuring photographs by James Bidgood
It certainly is great to see Pink Narcissus receiving this reissue, as it is such an important and impactful 70’s art film. Though I’d have to say you’ll have to be open/ fine with homoeroticism. The new 4k scan looks great- really enhancing the film's dreaminess and moments of jarring surprise. We also get a small but interesting selection of extras on the disc & the inlay booklet.