Porn ‘N Chicken delivered a hint of the former and none of the latter at its much-hyped Tercentennial weekend preview of “The StaXXX.”
Rather than screening the movie, the would-be pornographers attached a trailer for it to a Yale Film Society preview of “The Golden Bowl,” a new Merchant/Ivory film, which was screened at the Whitney Humanities Center Saturday night. The trailer did not acknowledge its cast or crew.
Film society members and a group of Porn ‘N Chicken members standing in the back of the room watched in the dark as the VHS trailer began, showing a shot of Sterling Memorial Library from College Street. In a series of shots that faded in and out, the camera moved through the library and into the stacks.
Audience members, some of whom were alerted to the screening by an e-mail sent from an anonymous Hotmail account Saturday afternoon, giggled nervously throughout the explicit scenes. Many who arrived expecting only to see “The Golden Bowl” sat bemused.
The words “You’ve heard the hype” flashed across the screen and were followed by a shot of the stacks elevator climbing floors. When the elevator reached floor 7M, the words “You’ve had your doubts” faded in. Once the text disappeared, the screen flashed a naked woman facing the camera, leading a blindfolded man backwards down an aisle of books.
There followed a series of quick shots featuring male and female above-the-waist nudity in one-on-one and orgy sequences. The faces of participants were visible in many sequences.
After a few seconds, the words “This fall, prepare for–” appeared, followed by a longer shot of a man and a woman, fully nude, apparently having sex at a desk in the stacks. The trailer ended with the words “It’s coming.”
Film society president Lucien Lefcourt ’02 said he was approached by “an unnamed source” and asked to screen the preview.
A junior who is a member of Porn ‘N Chicken said the trailer represents only a portion of footage the filmmakers have shot for the still-unfinished film. He speculated that a poster campaign begun last week and the trailer were an attempt by the filmmakers to raise and maintain interest in the film.
The filmmakers had indicated in interviews with Premiere and The Boston Globe that the film would be done in April, but the trailer announced a fall release date. This is particularly striking because the filmmakers interviewed in Premier were by all accounts seniors.
This leaves open the possibility that the film will be completed by others next year. It may also mean the preview advertises a film that will never be completed.
Porn ‘N Chicken, meanwhile, hosted porn star Sydnee Steele in a mock master’s tea in a Silliman common room late last night. An e-mail invitation to the event boasted that “Ms. Steele has quite literally slept her way to the top of her profession and is now ready to bare everything to Porn ‘N Chicken.”
The group hosted adult film star Tristan Taormino at a gathering in the Baker’s Dozen house last month, which drew some 80 or so students.