Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno Live!

Description

Sex is natural, even if everyone—and every species—does it differently. Sea urchins emit clouds of sperm and eggs that just might intersect in the turbulent ocean. Ducks have labyrinthine vaginas that allow them to block or direct the advances of prospective mates. With dolphins, “Anything goes!” declares a perpetually bemused Isabella Rossellini, who proceeds to demonstrate their multiple positions with whimsical and beautifully rendered paper models. A high school dropout who went back to school to study animal behavior, ecology and conservation, Rossellini decided the best way to share her love of animals was to talk about their sex lives. She began with a series of cleverly educational and beautifully art-directed short films, which she dubbed “Green Porno,” that proved so popular she has now written, produced, directed and starred in nearly 40. A book followed and then a stage performance, written with Jean-Claude Carrière (SFIFF 2006 Kanbar Award), that Rossellini has been touring internationally for the last couple of years. Director Jody Shapiro gracefully segues from Rossellini’s delightful performance to sequences from her splendid films to bits of backstage business. Humor is integral to the writer-actress’s approach, as is biological accuracy. That’s a subject some still find irksome in the 21st century, hence Rossellini’s serious—and scientific—subtext: Since evolution, diversity, gender fluidity and homosexuality are present among animals, shouldn’t we accept that they exist among humans, too? It’s only natural. —Michael Fox

Film Details