VARIETY

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Bette Gordon's independently produced psychological thriller (written by American experimentalist artist Kathy Acker) is a stunning protofeminist noir experiment set in the sex shops of 1983 Times Square.

During Manhattan's early '80s economic downturn, Christine (Sandy McLeod), a Midwest transplant, takes a job as a ticket booth clerk at a Times Square porn theater called the "Variety." Women can like porn and public perversion just as much as the guys in trench coats who keep the lights on at such Times Square theaters. 

Manhattan's sleazy Times Square fires Christine's perverse erotic desires and curiosities about the power of her own sexuality. Christine goes on a baseball game date at Yankee Stadium with Louie (Richard Davidson), a wealthy regular patron at the Variety.

Louie has underworld connections that add to his dark charm. Christine secretly follows Louie after he's called away from their date at the stadium. When she isn't stalking Louie, Christine tests the influence of her dirty imagination by speaking erotic fantasy monologues to her non-pulsed journalist boyfriend Mark (Will Patton). Boyfriends are so passé. Dildos are sexy and cool. Erotica is an underground obsession observed by men and women.

Daring, raw, and in tune with the social and political crosscurrents of the period, "Variety" achieves a spectacular cumulative effect of short-circuiting preconceived notions of taboo sexual stereotypes via Christine's independent journey of self discovery.

Here is a female-led a thriller that takes poetic liberties equal to the harmonic leaps that John Lurie's evocative musical score takes. The richness of atmospheric detail and relevant social tone is equal to that of John Cassavetes’s best films.

Watching “Variety” for the first time reminds us of why we are drawn to Cinema in the first place. "Variety" is troubling and dark, just like Manhattan was in 1983. The film’s transgressive ambitions bear salty fruit. The movie gets under your skin. It challenges the viewer to become part of its believable heroine’s heavily defended psyche in keeping with her discovery of her unconscious mind.

Part psycho-sexual thriller, and part time-capsule-character-study, Bette Gordon’s daring filmic creation is a truly rare movie that transcends time in its openly transgressive treatment of American culture.

Genius.   

Not Rated. 87 mins.