Variety (DVD)

Bette Gordon's Variety is a landmark independent film that challenges common notions about feminism and pornography, which Kino Classics is proudly presenting in a director-approved 2K restoration from the original camera negative. It follows Christine (Sandy McLeod, Something Wild), a bright and unassuming young woman, after she takes a job selling tickets at a porno theater near Times Square. Christine soon develops an obsession that begins to consume her life, finding self-expression through an interest in porn. Variety dramatizes the changes that occur in her relationships with both Mark (Will Patton, Armageddon), her boyfriend, and Louie (Richard Davidon, Law & Order), a dangerous-looking patron of the theater. Emerging out of the underground NYC arts scene that produced the late '80s boom in American independent cinema, Variety contains the contributions of an impressive array of talent, including cinematographer Tom DiCillo (Living in Oblivion), actor Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights), a script by the late cult novelist Kathy Acker, and a score by actor and musician John Lurie (Stranger Than Paradise, Down By Law).