Joe Sarno was the undeniable master of soft-core cinema in the 1960's and 1970's. Basically a 42nd Street version of Bergman (Sarno even made a handful of movies in Sweden), Sarno's films were unique in the genre because they put a greater emphasis on women over men and were sincere attempts to capture genuine emotion on celluloid. This documentary follows Sarno and his marvelously feisty, yet still loyal and doting wife Peggy in his twilight years: The Sarnos visit Sweden, attend screenings of Joe's pictures at film festivals, and Joe feverishly toils away on a script for a film that alas never got made. Meanwhile Peggy does her best to take care of the troubled financial situation -- she admits that she's responsible for putting Joe in a kind of hermetic bubble that caused him to lose touch with reality -- and, in an especially sobering scene, goes to see her elderly mother who was vehemently opposed to Peggy marrying Joe. Moreover, various Sarno fans such as John Waters and noted historian Michael Bowen give their two cents about the artistic merits of Sarno's enormous body of work. The single most remarkable thing about this documentary is the fact that it's at heart a very affecting love story about a sweet old couple who just happened to make so-called dirty movies for a living; one can't help but care about this charming pair. Although not without a few flaws (for example, this documentary for the most part glosses over Joe Sarno's career in hardcore porn after the soft-core market dried up in the mid-1970's), it's nonetheless essential viewing for Sarno aficionados.
