Directed by Bette Gordon • 1983 • United States
Starring Sandy McLeod, Will Patton, Richard M. Davidson
The provocative, sexually charged tale of a woman’s journey of self-discovery, Bette Gordon’s independent landmark offers a bold challenge to conventional notions of feminism and pornography. Emerging out of New York City’s 1980s artistic underground, VARIETY follows Christine (Sandy McLeod), a bright and unassuming young woman who takes a job selling tickets at a porno theater near Times Square. Instead of distancing herself from the dark and erotic nature of her new milieu, Christine soon develops an obsession that begins to consume her life. Featuring contributions from a variety of counterculture luminaries—including cult novelist Kathy Acker, who cowrote the script; musician John Lurie; and photographer Nan Goldin—VARIETY remains revolutionary in its fearless exploration of erotic fantasy from a woman’s point of view.
Up Next in New York Stories
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Stranger Than Paradise
Directed by Jim Jarmusch • 1984 • United States, Germany
Starring John Lurie, Richard Edson, Eszter BalintWith this breakout film, Jim Jarmusch established himself as one of the most exciting voices in the burgeoning independent-film scene, a road-movie poet with an affinity for Americana at it...
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After Hours
Directed by Martin Scorsese • 1985 • United States
Starring Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna BloomDesperate to escape his mind-numbing routine, uptown Manhattan office worker Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne) ventures downtown for a hookup with a mystery woman (Rosanna Arquette). So begins the...
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Five Corners
Directed by Tony Bill • 1987 • United States
Starring Jodie Foster, John Turturro, Tim RobbinsYouthful idealism collides with matter-of-fact violence in a working-class Bronx neighborhood in the early 1960s in this captivatingly offbeat urban mosaic featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast. A w...
