Wikipedia article
'Constance' is a 1998 erotic film "for women," directed by Knud Vesterskov and produced by Puzzy Power, a division of Lars von Trier's film company Zentropa. It was the first hardcore pornographic film ever to have been produced by an established mainstream film studio.[AVN Europe, November 2007, page 13]
'Constance' is based on the Puzzy Power Manifesto[[http://www.puzzypower.dk/UK/index.php/om-os/manifest Puzzy Power Manifesto] text] developed by Zentropa in 1997, and was the first in a series of pornographic films aimed particularly at a female audience.[Yvonne Tasker, 'Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers', Routledge, 2002, p.367 ] The others would be Zentropa's 'Pink Prison' (1999) and 'All About Anna' (2005).
Plot
A young woman, Constance (Anas), arrives at the mansion of the experienced Lola (Katja Kean), where she is initiated into the mysteries of sexuality. The story is told in flashback via a framing device with lyrical diary excerpts and narration read by mainstream actresses Christiane Bjrg Nielsen and Hella Joof. (In the English-language version, narration is by Danish actress Susan Olsen and Helle Fagralid).
Critical reception
The film was shown in mainstream cinemas in Europe, and was reviewed by mainstream film critics.[Jack Stevenson, 'Fleshpot: cinema's sexual myth makers & taboo breakers', 2nd edition, Critical Vision, 2000, ] The Stockholm Film Festival arranged a special screening in Stockholm on Valentine's Day.[
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'Constance' became a considerable success, and generated considerable hype, especially in Scandinavia.[ It was nominated for three AVN Awards: Best Art Direction - Video; Best Music; and Best Videography. The reaction of film critics was "mixed."][
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In 2006, it was in part this film's claim of mainstream audience viewing behind a process that ended up with porn being legalized in Norway.[[http://www.medietilsynet.no/Documents/Aktuelt/Presedenssaker/Filmklagenemd/2006-0698-04_Flirtshop_Klagenemnda.pdf Film Appeals Committee: Complaints regarding Films "Constance", "Pink Prison" and 'Zazel: The Scent of Love'] , text of the Norwegian Media Authority regarding censorship, 12 March 2006 (in Norwegian)]
In September 2007, German weekly magazine 'Stern' wrote: "Women too like to see other people having sex. What they dont like is the endless close-ups of hammering bodyparts without a story. Lars von Trier is the first to have realised this and produced valuable quality porn films for women."['Stern' #40, 27 September 2007]
References
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