Erotic Man

Colour, 35 mm
Denmark, 2010, 85 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Can one capture the erotic? Can one define it? In his long-awaited movie, Danish documentarist and poet Jørgen Leth sets out on a journey through memories of his erotic adventures, of his brief and long-term loves, of passionate looks, of the beauty of female bodies and personalities. The elderly European artist travels far and wide looking for women who remind him of other women, searching for his inner self, asking around for the source of sensual attraction. His gift is an ability to fully experience and, at the same time, outwardly observe even the most subtle erotic situations. With age comes detachment, providing Leth with the opportunity to reflect on his erotic desires and fantasies. More than a decade in the making, Jørgen Leth has shot perhaps his most personal and provocative picture. This experimental documentary is a celebratory poetic statement on the beauty and attractiveness of women. It is a piece of cinematic self-reflection, a cinematic poem.

About the director

Jørgen Leth (b. 1937, Aarhus, Denmark) is a journalist, poet, movie director, and television commentator. He studied literature and anthropology in Aarhus and Copenhagen. As a journalist he wrote film, music, and theater criticism, and he also worked in the diplomatic service in Haiti (1999-2005). He has made forty-five films, many distributed worldwide. He published his first book in 1962 and shot his first film a year later. He is one of the founding members of the avant-garde Danish film group Abcinema. Leth has written ten collections of poetry as well as nonfiction. Over the course of his life he has received numerous awards for literature, film, and journalism, and in 2009 he took the World Cinema Contribution Award from the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival. In 2008 Leth was Chairman of the Documentary Film Jury at the 43rd KVIFF.