Exberliner sat down with Gerard Jr and Christar Damiano to discuss their father’s infamous hit Deep Throat, which will appear in remastered 4K splendour at Berlin’s PornFilmFestival this Friday and Sunday. We asked them about the film’s legacy, and the controversial accusations from Linda Lovelace – and what they remember of the film’s production.
What has changed in the remastered version of Deep Throat that will be screened at the Porn Film Festival?
We restored the film to the way our father originally intended it in 1972. Since then, things have been added and removed, so we tried to bring it back to the way it was. For example, due to the trouble it got into with regards to obscenity laws, they added a long Freud quote at the beginning of the movie. The intention was to give it a “socially redeeming” value so that it wouldn’t be categorised as obscene. We have removed that since our father didn’t intend to include it. We’ve also changed some music which was really important to our father and the film.
Right. The impact of obscenity laws are a big part of the film’s legacy… Can you talk a bit more about those?
Our father would be the first to tell you that it isn’t a very good film – it was the best he could do at the time
Deep Throat came out just as the laws were starting to change in the US. That was part of the reason for its popularity and phenomenon. Everyone wanted to see what they weren’t allowed to see. It was kind of like prohibition – once alcohol was illegal, everyone wanted to start drinking. Cases were fought all across the country up to the Supreme Court.
Deep Throat was a placeholder in these trials for the concept of obscenity: What is the definition? Who gets to decide? Ultimately, it was left up to community standards because moral perspectives range so much across the US – what happens on a daily basis in New York would have people out with torches and pitchforks in some rural areas.
What are your thoughts on the Inside Deep Throat documentary?
Our dear friend Annie Sprinkler told us that the documentary was happening, because her brother was a composer for it. She asked if our father would be involved and he immediately said – hell no! Near the end of his life, he was pretty bitter about Deep Throat. It was taken from him by some of his business partners – unscrupulous business men – some may call them mafia – which he did not realise initially. He felt like so many people had made so much money off of him, that he didn’t want to be exploited again.
Moral perspectives range so much across the US – what happens in New York would have people out with pitchforks in some rural areas
I met with some of the directors individually and realised that they had a lot of respect for our father and wanted to do the right thing. I went back to my dad and said “Well, either way they’re going to make this documentary. If you do participate, you’ll have a chance to tell your part of the story. Otherwise, it will just be everyone’s else’s version”. In the end he agreed to do it – and ended up making more money (through consulting and archival material) from the documentary than Deep Throat itself.
You said your father was bitter about the film at the end of his life. Why was that?
We never saw the money from Deep Throat but we still bore the brunt of [the controversy]. People, still, have very strong feelings about this film and want to put it on someone. Our father would be the first to tell you that it isn’t a very good film – it was the best he could do at the time. He was a little embarrassed. One time I got the opportunity to have a live director’s commentary with him and he was just yelling at the screen! He made more films later in his life (which we will be restoring as well) which he was much more proud of, but they never got the traction that Deep Throat did.
Have you always been involved in your father’s work, even as children?
Yes, always. When our father worked on his first film in 1968, we were brought on location, the crew was always at the house… We were only three and four. Then when Deep Throat was made a few years later, we all went down to Miami and were present for filming. The cast was like family – Harry Reams used to come to our house for Christmas dinner, he was our Uncle Herby. Actually, in the scene where Linda and her roommate are in the pool, if you had panned the camera over to the right, you would have seen us! We were being very quiet, waiting for them to finish filming so we could jump in the pool. When the sex scenes were happening (our father referred to it as “the nitty-gritty”) our mother would take us away – we never saw any of that.
How do you respond to Linda Lovelace’s accusations that everyone who watches Deep Throat is watching her being raped?
There is no doubt that Linda Lovelace suffered at the hands of her husband, but that started before Deep Throat and continued well after. No one on set has corroborated the story that there was a gun on set. It is true that she was beaten and abused by her husband/manager, but it did not happen around other people. The set was a safe space for her because she was surrounded by people supporting her, she was treated like a movie star. It was only when she was alone at night with her husband that she suffered abuse. In fact, the only way she could do the iconic deep throat scene was to get her husband out of the room because he was so jealous.
The only way she could do the iconic deep throat scene was to get her husband out of the room because he was so jealous.
We actually remember a traumatising event from one of the nights where we were staying in Miami in a room next to Linda and her husband. There was a commotion next door – as kids, we didn’t know what was happening. Two crew members rushed into our room and tried to get in to help Linda, but the door was locked. Our mother took us out of there immediately, and not until years later did we learn about what was going on.
What do you say to activists who are opposed to the film?
We believe the conversation about violence against women is very important to have. With regards to Linda Lovelace, there is a lot to the story that people don’t know. It’s easy for those who are anti-porn to take that one comment out of context and use it to fit their narrative. In the four books Linda wrote, there are four different stories. Her perception of what happened to her changed over time, but based on what happened on set, she was definitely happy to be in the film.
This opens a larger discussion about consent. If, retrospectively, she decides that she was coerced, is the crew is implicated, even though she was consenting at the time? This is the grey area we think it important to discuss and we are happy to do it. We encourage everyone who feels differently or just wants to know more to come to the screening and ask us questions directly.
The 4K remaster of Deep Throat will screen as part of PornFilmFestival at Babylon Kreuzberg on Friday, October 28 in the presence of the director’s children Gerard Damiano Jr. & Christar Damiano. It will also screen on October 30 at Moviemento.
