Sex, Drugs & Democracy

The Dutch have internationally low rates of teen pregnancy, abortion, and criminal incarceration; they also tolerate open prostitution, coffee shops selling more varieties of marijuana than espresso, and live nude weenie-wagging (amongst other sexually explicit acts) on stage. Is there a connection between the decidedly non-Puritan approach to sex, drugs, and rehabilitation shown here and the comparatively sterling report card that the Dutch can rightly boast of regarding social ills? Director Jonathan Blank and his choice of interviewees leave very little doubt which way they lean on the issue. Amsterdam comes across as Jesse Helms' biggest nightmare: here, viewers will see happy prostitutes, recreational drug users smoking a giant joint in the streets, and contestants competing on The Gay Dating Game; a far cry from my memories of Holland (all from the 1969 Disney version of Hans Brinker, starring Robin Askwith, who would later trade in his silver skates to star in soft-core porn cable movies). Interviews with police officials, professors, activists, and social workers are interwoven with the somewhat repetitive footage of sex workers letting it all hang out and average joes (and jolines) taking hits off shared bongs. For all the raves Sex, Drugs & Democracy has received, the film is filled with sloppily edited non sequiturs from interviewees and could have easily been a half hour shorter. But make no mistake, despite the graphic sex scenes, the film's intention and effect is to titillate the cerebral cortex, not the limbic system. In that, it succeeds. Recommended, with some reservations. (R. Pitman)