The People vs. Larry Flynt 4K 1996

Miloš Forman’s film "The People vs. Larry Flynt" had been sitting on my shelf for a long time, waiting to be watched. It seemed that yet another film by such a brilliant director deserved my undivided attention. And recently, I finally found the right frame of mind not just to passively consume what I saw, but to reflect on it seriously.

Larry Flynt is a controversial and odious figure. This man became both a hero and an antihero of the 1970s—the era of the sexual revolution. A miserable childhood and immense determination allowed him to ride the crest of the wave of his time. He realized that people needed new forms of entertainment, that even the popular "Playboy" failed to satisfy the demands and moods of the masses. And so, from being the owner of a chain of strip clubs, he transformed himself into the publisher of the most scandalous magazine of all—the porn magazine *Hustler*.

There is a special category of people in history—genius wastrels. Larry Flint is one of them. By the end of the film, the wealthy young man has turned into a “crazy” cripple, and his stunning wife (a girl who also had a troubled childhood) says: “I had an epiphany, Larry. It was when my father blew my whole family’s brains out with a shotgun. I was the only one who could identify the bodies. And they sent me to an orphanage full of kind Christian nuns who, for eight years, wearing crucifixes, shoved my face between their legs”—in my opinion, a stunning monologue) becomes a dyed-hair, stoned drug addict. But be that as it may, these brilliant mavericks influence society and quietly change the world. After all, if this very imperfect and at times wretched little world is capable of showing mercy to a piece of shit like Larry Flint, then things aren’t all that bad.

Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love give wonderful performances here. Edward Norton also deserves special mention: he portrays the lawyer as very lively and reliable.

The film’s title was chosen very wisely. The public is truly against Larry Flint: many supported his porn magazine, but no one wanted to support its creator. Flint pitted himself against society, dredged up the most repulsive and passionate things from the collective subconscious, and allowed that society to take out all its vices and imperfections on him. He won the case, proving that the First Amendment really does work and protects even the very worst. And he had no regrets—except for one...