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 QUIET
DAYS IN CLICHY (Blue-Underground) 1970. Drama (?). 91 minutes. Black and white. Not rated,
nudity, sex. Joey and Carl are two ugly bastards living in a small area in
Paris (Paris, France, not Paris, Texas) called Clichy. Joey is a
struggling writer with zero money, and Carl is a scarf wearing (even while
shaving) weirdo who likes young women. When he’s not eating scraps of
food from the garbage, Joey is stealing money from Carl to pay for sex
with ugly woman (ok, one wasn’t ugly). Together, the men live a care
free life of sex, wine, and smelly looking women.
First,
a little history: this film is adapted from the Henry Miller novel and was
deemed obscene by the United States government in 1970. The movie was
seized and after a federal trial, was eventually released for the viewing
public’s enjoyment. Over thirty years later, Quiet Days in Clichy
finally makes its debut on DVD. The entire plot is basically pointless as
it simply follows the sexual escapades of Joey and Carl. There is a lot of
nudity and sexual situations, but only one scene that is considered
“hardcore.” I will hand it to Blue-Underground for leaving this scene
in the movie and making it harder to market and sell at a retail level.
Quiet Days is loaded with oddities; the very folksy sounding soundtrack
from Country Joe McDonald, Joey’s narration, and character’s thoughts
scripted across the screen for your reading pleasure. With all its history
and oddness, I will forever remember Quiet Days in Clichy due to one line
of narration spoken by Joey about an encounter with a woman at a party,
“I put my hand on her cunt. It was all steamy, like manure, under her
dress.” What the hell is that? Note; the above mentioned non-ugly woman
Joey has sex with looks a lot like porn star Asia Carrera, in case you
were wondering. DVD extras include; an interview with Henry Miller’s
editor and publisher, and interview with Country Joe McDonald,
poster/still gallery, bios, and the obscenity charges court documents
(DVD-Rom). I honestly don’t know what to write about this flic. I am
tongue tied, errrr, or keyboard tied. Manure? - Denis Sheehan
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