Michael DeForrest

The death of censorship in some countries left a brief hope that erotic films could become legitimate cinema, and within this Radley Metzger was a celebrated, scandalous practitioner. This 1970 gem doubles as sly meta-commentary, which Warhol proclaimed a masterpiece. Where you land is up to you.

Criticized as purely pornographic in the newly X-rated world of 1969, Radley Metzger’s Camille 2000 is an erotic tale adapted from Alexandre Dumas. It also works as a campy melodrama, a chic piece of 60s pop art, and a provocateur’s test of the new freedoms of cinema.