Orgone film

Orgone film (French: film d'orgone) is a Gylian film genre. It is characterised by carefree tone, demopolitan aesthetics, and abundant sexual innuendo. Its name comes from Wilhelm Reich's notion of "orgone", humorously alluding to its bawdy aspects.

Orgone films achieved their peak success during the National Obligation period, serving as a successor to telefoni bianchi films and a significant step in cinematic depictions of sexuality. The genre largely evolved into new forms in the 1960s, including Rauna Næsve's sex comedies and outright pornography. Several of its elements remain an enduring presence in Gylian cinema, and works explicitly imitating it or evoking its spirit have appeared on occasion.

Terminology

The term first appeared in a Free Gylias article around 1960. It was inspired by Wilhelm Reich's notion of "orgone". His fusion of psychoanalysis and Marxism was influential on the Free Territories' and Golden Revolution's sexual revolution. The term humorously compared the films' approach to innuendo with Wilhelm's later formulation of the orgasm as a cosmic energy.

Characteristics

A customer reading a clothing label, 1959. The National Prices Board's work served as an "undertone" to orgone films.

Orgone films are defined by their fusion of urbane glamour and abundant innuendo, both visual and verbal. Compared to telefoni bianchi, their plots were secondary to the overall atmosphere, and tended to employ slice of life structures. Orgone films' aesthetics were shaped by gauchic and demopolitanism, and reflected socialised luxury: they had urban settings, and depicted sharp-dressed, sophisticated young protagonists in a celebratory manner.

While the genre was defined by its innuendo, its actual depiction of sexuality was somewhat less important. The double entendres fit with the Gylian tradition of tongue-in-cheek bawdiness dating back to Alscia and the Free Territories, allowing it to retain "down-to-earth, working class roots".

The absence of censorship and development of cinematic erotica had an unexpected side effect: Gylian audiences developed an appreciation for innuendo as an art form in itself, in the absence of restrictions on explicitness. Double entendre was seen as leaving more to the imagination, and thus more inclusive of audiences' diverse preferences than explicit depictions of sexuality, which inevitably excluded those whose preferences didn't match.

Radix comments that, like its telefoni bianchi predecessors, orgone films contained political connotations. They reflected the utopian current of anarchism, which advocated reclaiming the concept of luxury in an egalitarian manner, triumphing over the more austere and authoritarian strands of communism.

The genre's peak corresponded to the National Obligation period, and thus rationing became an "ever-present undercurrent". The National Prices Board's work was a major influence, as orgone films showed resourceful and stylish characters who got by with what was available. This was a major attraction for audiences, who saw that far from precluding stylishness or a good quality of life, rationing could achieve mass comfort. The depiction of characters pooling talents, helping each other, and engaged in community markets and similar exchanges reflected the experience of "emancipated markets".

The feminist inheritance of Alscia and the Free Territories was similarly manifested in orgone films. Most of their protagonists were female, and the genre is generally identified with actresses. The films foregrounded female sexuality, and provided positive depictions of professional women and sociality-oriented occupations like merchants, elevator attendants, tray vendors, telephone operators, tea servers, filling station attendants, and paid dance partners.

History

Orgone films' best-known stars included Susanne Petersson (left), Victoria Douglas (centre), and Máiréad Ní Conmara (right)

Orgone films emerged in Gylias, becoming one of the first successful genres to appear after the Liberation War. They were influenced by telefoni bianchi and the cinema of the Free Territories, which provided the documentary-styled presentation and much of the worldview.

The first orgone film was released in 1958, and became a hit. Its success led to a rapid development and proliferation of the genre, which reached its peak in 1958–1962. The genre was consistently successful in distribution and critical reception, and it co-existed and cross-fertilised with contemporary genres, ranging from musical comedies and pornography to nouvelle vague and Megelanese neorealism.

Some commentators saw it as a more accessible and "mainstream" version of pornography, as its channeling of sexuality into luxury earned it a broader audience compared to pornography's more specialised focus.

Some of the best-known stars of the genre included Susanne Petersson, Victoria Douglas, and Máiréad Ní Conmara. Each had a specialisation befitting the genre:

• Susanne played industrious, quirky entrepreneurs, making the merchant lifestyle both appealing and cute.
• Victoria played lively and promiscuous soubrettes, and later gained fame for her backless dresses.
• Máiréad's career was defined by her debut role as a "professional virgin" in Blue Moon. Her wry, witty performance led her to specialise in "honourable cockteases": protagonists who portrayed romantic pursuit as playful games of hide-and-seek, satirising the egotism and single-mindedness of her determined (but ultimately harmless) courtiers.

Many other famous actresses and models either began their career or increased their exposure by starring in orgone films, including Brigitte Nyman, Sara Thomas, and Isabel Longstowe. In contrast to the mainly Italian- and French-language telefoni bianchi, orgone films were mainly made in English, reflecting its ascent as a co-official language alongside French.

The abolition of rationing in 1961 and the end of the National Obligation period are conventionally seen as the end of the genre's peak. There is disagreement among cultural commentators about whether the genre "ended", with the consensus being that orgone films evolved into new styles that displaced their initial form: Rauna Næsve and Brigitte Nyman's sexually-charged comedies, Alike Demetriou's musical light comedies, Sima Daián's georgette comedies, Carla Miló's gallista comedies, and others. Since the genre's peak predated the Gylian Invasion, orgone films did not receive as much exposure abroad as other genres, but some still found a niche audience in other countries.

In the 1970s, Isabel Longstowe fondly recalled orgone films and the RevCom as parts of "this vast, impressive machine that sent legions of beautiful young women to charm school, launched them into the nation's hearts, and then gently ushered them into early retirement."

Orgone films were often referenced and homaged by the Neo-Gylian Sound and new old hat scenes in the 1990s, and this contributed to a brief rejuvenation of the vintage style that some dubbed "neo-orgone". Ane Seşel's oeuvre from the 2000s on has been strongly influenced by telefoni bianchi and orgone films, and she has been described as a "revivalist" of those genres.

The influence of the genre endures in various contemporary works, such as Dreamwave Productions' Le recueil des faits improbables de Ryōko Yakushiji (where it is crossed with Kleptechne-styled action) and The Amazing Inflatable Girl (where it is combined with nénédie), and Frauke Stark's "business burlesque" pornography.