Animal Farm 1981 5,6/10 5123 reviews
Bodil Bjarta Joensen (25 September 1944 – 3 January 1985) was a Danish pornographic actress born in the village of Hundige, near Copenhagen.An animal lover, she ran a small entrepreneurial farm and animal husbandry business, and enjoyed celebrity status from her many pornographic films in which she engaged in sex acts with animals. The video was apparently smuggled into the U.K. In 1981 and made the rounds in the underground market. In 2006 the U.K. Kawasaki 750 jet ski manual. Documentary show 'The Dark Side of Porn' examined the film and it's star in the episode 'The Real Animal Farm'.
The 2006 documentaryTHE DARK SIDE OF PORN: THE REAL ANIMAL FARM provides an intriguing look at thebackground of one of the most infamous pornographic videotapes of all time,‘Animal Farm’, as well as the tragic life of its star performer, Bodil Joensen.Due to its bestiality content I have no interest in seeing the actual film, butI’ve long been fascinated by the shroud of notoriety surrounding the film aswell as the troubled story of Joensen (in the various photographs I’ve seen ofher, I always noticed a sad, almost haunted, look in her eyes) and why and whatexactly led her to perform in these sorts of productions.
Featuringmany interviews with collaborators and friends of Joensen such as filmmakersOle Ege and ShinkichiTajiri, as well asa variety of others providing their opinion on the film such as Germaine Greerand ‘Headpress’ editor David Kerekes (“There’s only so much filth you canwallow in – I think ‘Animal Farm’’s pretty much at the bottom of the pit”), notto mention many non-explicitexcerpts from Joensen’s films, plenty of rare stills, and a non-judgmentalvoice-over, THE REAL ANIMAL FARM provides a wealth of information for anyoneinterested in the story behind the tape.
The documentary begins with a look at the home videorevolution that took off in the early 1980’s in England. For the first time inhistory, consumers were able to borrow or purchase programmes of their choiceand watch them as many times as they liked in the comfort of their own home.Naturally the success of the VCR led to a massive demand for pornographictitles, especially illegal hardcore material – one in four VHS tapes on themarket was a porno. With the demand for ever more sensational films growing(including the lurid horror and sexploitation titles soon to be known as ‘TheVideo Nasties’), bootlegging and piracy became rife. Seizing the lucrativemoney-making opportunity, dupers took to smuggling in more extreme XXX materialinto the UK from more sexually permissive countries such as Denmark andHolland. In mid-1981, four zoophilia tapes, collectively known as ‘AnimalFarm’, were snuck past British customs into the country (it should be notedthat the ‘films’ have no official title; the tapes became universally known as‘Animal Farm’ due to underground dealers, traders and collectors alwaysreferring to it by that name).
'Animal Farm’s’ content itself was a compilation ofclips from various films Bodil Joensen had starred in, and assorted ColorClimax Corporation bestiality loops (the original source of the tape was infact from Color Climax, a hugely successful Danish porn production/distributionoutfit catering to more ‘specialised’ tastes). The narrator explains “’AnimalFarm’ has no plot, but shows countless indecent acts including penetrative,anal and oral sex with every conceivable animal”. Indeed thegrimy-looing snippets shown of randy, elderly ‘backwoods’ looking farmersand grubby, unwashed farm girls about to engage in copulations was more thanenough for me. The first wave of video dupers sold copies of ‘AnimalFarm’ to Soho sex shop dealers for up to 70 pounds each, and subsequently the‘under-the-counter’ tapes sold to customers like hotcakes. Police raids in Sohodid uncover the ‘Animal Farm’ tapes, however they were too late to stop thefilm from being widely distributed. It was a matter of time before thefilm became nationally, then internationally, known as an underground legend,often viewed as a gross-out curio rather than a masturbatory aid.Even during my yearsat high school in the 90’s, it was still being sniggered about by knowingteenage boys upon the mention of George Orwell’s novel of the same title inclasses. I’ve also had it verified that at a certain Victorian country footballclub in the 1980’s, ‘Animal Farm’ was screened to adolescent boys (along withother highly dubious material) during their infamous ‘piss, pies and porn’fundraiser nights. Even more disturbingly, these films were supplied to thefootball club by the local police (!!!) Coincidentally, in his book Hip Pocket Sleaze, John Harrison mentions a similar story he was told when purchasing an old collection of 8mm stag loops from regional Victoria. Only difference being one of the particular films shown at the particular football club he was told about was THE ANAL DWARF (!!!!)But what ofBodil Joensen, the first ever widely recognisable person to appear in a bestialilyporn video? During her heyday, the unkempt but pretty, voluptuous blonde withstriking blue eyes appeared to be a vivacious, free-spirited ‘child of nature’;a vanguard of free love. Few were aware of the horrifically abusive childhoodJoensen suffered and of one particular traumatic event which was to change thecourse of the scarred young girl’s life forever.
Born in 1944,Joensen was brought up by a devoutly Christian mother in Hundige, a smallprovincial village near Copenhagen. Her father, a military officer, was absentfor most of her childhood, and her sexually repressed mother was extremely physicallyand emotionally abusive. If the young Bodil was seen simply chatting to a boyafter school, she was whipped brutally. Her mother’s abuse caused her towithdraw from other children. At the age of 12, when walking home from school Joensenwas violently raped by a man who forced her into a deserted train stationwaiting room. Bodil told her unsympathetic mother, who viciously beat her andsaid she was to blame for the rape. The traumatised, confused and resentfulgirl made a promise that would haunt her for the rest of her days. In spite toshock her mother, she made a pledge that she would have sex with boars. AsBodil grew older, her oath to her mother slowly began to manifest itself. Lonelyand isolated from human affection, Bodil sought solace from the animals sheloved. Her first sexual encounter with an animal was with her beloved GermanShepard, her only friend and closest companion and soon after at 15, she lefther mother’s farm, never to return. Both to flee the abuse she had endured andas a backlash against thetraditional, religious lifestyle her mother wished for her to follow.
Alienatedfrom her family and homeless in the Danish countryside, Joensen found work as afarmhand and eventually set up her own animal husbandry business, ‘InseminationCentral’. However, malicious rumours soon were spread by the conservativefarmer’s wives who were jealous of the attractive, outgoing young girl andprevented their husbands from associating with her, subsequently leading to amajor loss of funds. Desperate to keep her pigs, failing business and home,Bodil saw a money-making opportunity in zoophilia pornography. Initiallyappearing in ‘light fetish’ porn produced by Ole Ege, she then contacted ColorClimax Corporation with the proposal of appearing in bestiality loops for them.A venture that was to make the company millions. Within a few months after thistransition, she had earned enough to keep her business afloat. From 1969 to1972, Joensen appeared in over 40 feature films and 8mm loops of this nature.
A key film fromthis period was the documentary short BODIL JOESEN: A SUMMERDAY byJapanese-American underground filmmaker Shinkichi Tariji. Tariji, intrigued byJoensen and her way of life, shot four days of footage of at her farmhouse,intending to show the ‘real’ Bodil to the public, not just the anonymous sexperformer. The documentary shows Bodil living with her animals on her farm (“tworabbits, seven dogs, a dozen pigs, some cats, a guinea pig, a mare and abeautiful black stallion named Dreamlight”), including their care, heraffection for them, and her sexual life. This footage is intercut with numerousphotographs of Joensen and her family and magazine articles.
A SUMMERDAYwas the surprise winner of Amsterdam’s 1970 Wet Dream Film Festival (attendedby a combination of the mackintosh brigade and the free-love hippie crowd) Thisturned Joensen into an underground superstar overnight and a symbol of the‘permissiveness’ and open-mindness of the era. Other documentary crews fromaround the world captured the young farm girl’s exploits on film.
Much of thefootage compiled in ‘Animal Farm’ is said to have been culled from A SUMMERDAY as well as San Francisco roughie auteurAlex de Renzy’s ANIMAL LOVER. Jack Stevenson in Shock Xpress Book 2 notes “..toappreciate the accomplishments of A SUMMERDAY, it should be seen alongside itsbrain-damaged twin, ANIMAL LOVER, perhaps the crudest and rudest exploitationfilm ever.” A clumsily shot, inept and relentlessly ugly ‘pseudo-documentary’, it isnarrated by a inarticulate, rambling ‘distinguished’ looking type ala Dr. Francis B. Gross from FACES OFDEATH wearing thick glasses and a red polka dot tie. According to Stevenson, “Bodil’sstock repertoire of sex acts is almost identical to those shown in the otherfilms, but here there are more close-ups and zoom shots, and the scenes lastlonger, with little camera movement.” One particular staged segment manages tohit a new low point, even for shockumentaries. A young woman claims to havebeen kidnapped by a group of sadistic Arab men when holidaying in Marrakesh andheld as a sex slave for months, including being forced to have sex with dogs.Stevensen states “..this section of ANIMAL LOVER must rank as one of themisguided, ghastly and hideous attempts at titillation ever.”
Joensenhappily allowed the documentary makers to film her as well as visiting sextourists who arrived at her farm by the busloads. She enjoyed both the media attentionas well as the financial reapings, which allowed her to achieve her dream goal;purchasing her own farm. As the 1970’s drew to a close Joensen’s life was almostsettling down into a ‘regular’ domestic existence, living with her partner KnudAndersen and their daughter (born in 1972). Amongst her pornographic activities,Bodil was still running Insemination Central with the assistance of Andersen.To subsidise the upkeep of the animals, Joensen was still allowing sex touristsaccess to the farm in order to make their own private bestiality movies. Bythis time, financially lucrative pornographers were looking elsewhere for newmoneymaking hardcore action kicks, and the Danish porn industry turned its backon her. Bodil was now in her mid-30’s and unable to secure any more movie contracts,and only amateur filmmakers were still interested in her. Unfortunately thedawn of a new decade would mark the beginning of a rapid decline for the “BoarGirl”.
By 1980, theonly income Joensen could bring in was fromperforming live sex acts with her dog in a number of small clubs in Copenhagen.In order to survive, she was having to perform a gruelling 3 shows a night for7 days a week. To her friends Joensen presented a facade of happiness, howeverthe reality was that her personal life was rapidly spirally out of control. Sufferingfrom severe depression, she was smoking up to 100 cigarettes a day, overeating(leading to a weight gain of 30 kilos/65 pounds) and drinking heavily.Her partner Knud was also an alcoholic andtheir addiction rendered them incapable of looking after the animals on thefarm. In 1981, police and animal welfare officers raided their farm after atip-off from locals. The officials were astounded and horrified by what theydiscovered - the farm was in an extreme state of decay. Pigs were drowning in ametre and a half of their own excrement. A decomposing carcass of a pig wasfound, half eaten by the other starving pigs. Sadly, not one of the animalssurvived as it was necessary for all to be euthanised. Joensen was charged withsevere neglect and animal abuse and sentenced to 30 days jail. Upon her releasefrom prison and having lost her business and beloved animals, the devastatedJoensen reluctantly resorted to prostitution to support her partner anddaughter, hiring a seedy room in Copenhagen’s red-light district. Desperate tofuel her alcohol addiction, she willingly exchanged sex for cheap liquor. Joensenopenly loathed the sex work she was forced to undertake, as she stated in herfinal interview in the early 1980’s: “In my situation it’s very hard to turndown the most disgusting propositions. For me, staying alive in the hookingbusiness is hell.” Ironically, at the same time as Bodil was struggling tosurvive, she was being screened in homes all over Britain, then subsequently theworld, as bootlegs of ‘Animal Farm’ became widely circulated.
Animal Farm 1981 Download
Towards theend of her life, Bodil was drinking a bottle and a half of schnapps a day aswell as being hooked on out-of-date tranquilizers supplied by a back-streetdoctor. Her friends had deserted her and she had no one to turn to, save fromher equally alcohol dependent partner. A broken woman, she was prematurely aged,obese, and having abandoned her ‘cheerful’ front, often appeared worn, tiredand sad. A far cry from the lively “Queen of the Boars” seen in countlessdocumentaries only a decade previously. Bodil Joensen passed away on 3 January1985 ofcirrhosis of theliver, aged just forty. Her partner Knud Andersen died in 1997 aged sixty sevenand was buried with Joensen in a cemetery in Copenhagen.
THE DARK SIDEOF PORN: THE REAL ANIMAL FARM concludes by noting the explosion of extreme,specialised pornography readily available since Joensen’s heyday. “What startedas a trickle of illegal hardcore tapes is now a torrent of the most extreme materialimaginable, easily accessible within a few clicks. The porno industry isconstantly on the lookout for any new fetish to capture and sell to a globalmarket.”
Themulti-million dollar industry of pornography will continue to grow and women likeBodil Joensen will seemily be always attracted to it and of achieving fameand fortune. After almost thirty years after her death, the woman dubbed “TheQueen of Bestiality” still remains a cult figure. Some claim her to be apioneer of sexual freedom and expression, but others see an abused, naive womanruthlessly exploited by the industry she represented.
