Some Nudity Required

When i saw this documentary some time ago, i found it really irritating. It is in many parts Odette Springer's annoying tribute to Odette Springer with it's to many "i'm-a-extremely-fantastic-and-talented-person-but-nobody-understands-it" scenes. What makes it more annoying is that Springer looks down on the people she wants to depict (Except Maria Ford who is "a-extremely-fantastic-and-talented-person-but-nobody-understands-it".) and sometimes steps on them. It is also filled with faked documentary scenes like the ridiculous scene where Springer looks at a violent video and gets "excited" what leads us to the scene that gave me a bade taste in my mouth- in the end of the movie tries Odette Springer to find a reason to why she got "excited" when she saw the violent video and from the clear blue sky the truth falls over her (and the poor audience)- all of a sudden she remembers that she was subjected to sexual abuse by her grand parents. What makes me feel bad about that scene is that she don't presents any real evidence and that the grand parents both are dead so they don't have any chance to defend themselves from the accusation.

I caught this documentary by chance, and it was an eyeopener into the world of B-Movies. This genre being nothing more than filmsy scripts, mediocre acting, and of course the all important sex(nudity,and all that encompasses) and violence. Some may say that how is that different from a Hollywood movie. I would argue mainly that it is the budget that is different. But apart from that this documentary looks at how hard it is for women particularly to move from the world of showing their body to actual decent to good acting in the mainstream cinema. Anyone who sees it, will think twice when viewing these movies.

'Some Nudity Required' is a documentary that on the surface appears to be a look into b-movies and exploitation flicks but that's only half true. It's really one woman's emotional trauma wrapped around the view that they're damaging to women making them. As you might sense by my tone, I didn't buy into this distorted narrative. Filmmaker Odette Springer pushes but ultimately delivers a haphazard mix. Bts footage and select interviews were fun, but the focus is in the wrong place.

Odette always dreamed of being in the movie business and now somewhat a part of it tells us the tale of her "fall into oblivion". Scoring music soundtracks for famous b-movie producer Roger Corman the violence, gratuitous sex & nudity that surrounds her work equally disturbs and fascinates her. On sets speaking to the people responsible both in front and behind the camera, she gets a picture of people earning a paycheck yet ultimately being abused. Then she reveals centuries old scars of her own.

Every time this piece hits a measure of truth, a fun quip or a legitimate talking point, there's this "woe is me" mentality right around the corner. Odette makes sure it always circles back to her on a personal level. You can feel sad & possibly understand this misguided attempt. However that doesn't excuse all the bashings b-movies get or shaming many of her interview subjects. It also conveniently leaves out the fact no one is forced to do these things. It's a voluntary choice much like how viewers can chose to watch this sort of material or not.

I hope making this was therapeutic or she got the help needed afterwards. 'Some Nudity Required' is telling the tale of a once thriving b-movie market that pushed sex, violence in cheap productions to please distributors, audiences but that's not news and the rest can't be taken seriously because it's coming from a place of hurt. Chats with Corman, notorious b-movie director Jim Wynorski (also shown acting like an ass) plus Julie Strain, Lisa Boyle & Maria Ford might be some worth to genre fans.

Some Nudity Required is one of those documentaries that reveal as much as the person trying to create the documentary as it does the subject. What does it reveal about B movies? Odette Springer's focus is definitely negative about the industry, but it's the words of the B-movie mavens that do the most damage, revealing the rampant and violent mysogyny prevalent among makers of B movies. What does it reveal about Odette? A lot...and proves she has a lot that she has a lot that she wants to let out.

The story of Maria Ford was also telling, and another great reason to see the movie.

Director's look at the B-Movie industry is thought-provoking, at its best, but spends a good deal more time with her own interpretations of her experience than really trying to show us what the industry is like.

Odette Springer is in many ways embarrassed about her involvement in the industry, and attempts to explain both her attraction to such work and the involvement of people in the industry in terms of personal weakness.

A great deal of time is spent making the argument that women are 1) discriminated against based on looks 2) intentionally kept out of good roles and 3) only like the industry if they are mentally disturbed.

This documentary (which watches like a TV movie for Lifetime TV) really, really begs some questions, such as: Did any of the "exploited" women portrayed take any acting classes? Did any of these women explore other, more "tasteful" options like dinner theater?

The underlying, unquestioned premise here is that "Any woman should be able to get tasteful roles which do not require nudity in 'A' grade films." Had the director worked on questioning this a bit (by interviewing women with acting ability or in live theater), this would be a 7. Without ever explaining or questioning that, it is a 5.