Le ménage moderne du Madame Butterfly
| Le Ménage moderne Du Madame Butterfly | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bernard Natan |
| Produced by | Bernard Natan |
| Written by | Bernard Natan |
| Starring | Bernard Natan, J. H. Forsell, two uncredited actresses and one uncredited actor |
| Cinematography | Not known |
| Edited by | Not known |
| Distributed by | Rapid Film |
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Release date
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| Country | France |
| Language | Silent film |
Le Ménage moderne du Madame Butterfly is a bisexual, hardcore pornographic film from France. It is notable for being the earliest known adult film to incorporate bisexual and homosexual intercourse.
Bernard Natan was a Romanian Jew who is claimed to have produced, directed and acted in at least one hardcore heterosexual pornographic film prior to 1920. In that year, at the end of World War I, Natan emigrated to France. Between 1920 and 1927, a group of at least 20 porn films appeared, sometimes attributed to Natan due to their internal coherence (a prolific number of films, considering the period and technology). Several of these films included homosexual and bisexual oral and anal intercourse, and Natan himself was thought to have engaged in homosexual and bisexual sex on film. The first scholar to provide a detailed scholarly account of this film in English, Thomas Waugh, now questions the film’s attribution to Bernard Natan, and rejects his earlier conclusion that Natan played the part of Vinh Linh (Pinkerton's "coolie boy" manservant), based on on-screen evidence of the actor’s age and foreskin status.
Le Ménage moderne du Madame Butterfly is one of the earliest of the pornographic films controversially attributed to Natan, and the first of his works to depict homosexuality and bisexuality. Although the release date is uncertain, scholars believe the film was distributed as early as 1920.
The production values on the film are notably high, even for a mainstream feature film of the day. It includes "found footage" location shots of an Asian street full of rickshaws and a sailing ship on the Pacific Ocean. The costumes and sets are almost lavish. The film has a lengthy and complex plot, and includes intertitles.
The film is based on the opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini.
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