By Lucy Battersby
In pushing the boundaries between erotica and pornography one R-rated film by an art-house director has clearly found itself in the "porno" camp.
Promotional posters for a 3D film depicting explicit sex-scenes have been pulled down by City of Yarra council workers.
Poster for the film outside the Lido cinema in Hawthorn. Credit: Penny Stephens
The most offensive image - a close up of an ejaculating penis - was found on the base of the Adrian Rawlins statue on Brunswick Street, along with a poster of a woman's bottom in white underwear and another poster of three entangled tongues.
A spokeswoman for the City of Yarra said "it was taken down mid-morning today by a council officer as it was on council property and deemed offensive". City of Yarra does not allow offensive images under its graffiti management policy.
A scene from the film Love.
Directed by "master provocateur" Gaspar Noe, Love is currently screening at an arthouse cinema in Hawthorn. It features graphic sex scenes in 3D and was a sell-out at Melbourne's International Film Festival. It recently received just two stars from The Age's cinema critic.
Meanwhile the film's distributors, Exile Entertainment, deny the most offensive poster was put up by them as part of the promotional campaign. Director of Exile Entertainment, Alex Ouzas, says his company did not included the penis image when it distributed hundreds of posters around Melbourne's inner city last week. He said the three poster images were only of people kissing, a bottom, and a girl.
Marketing director for Lido Cinema in Hawthorn, Sue Ristovski, said she had only received a promotional image of kissing tongues and the cinema had selectively chosen where to hang that image.
So far the film has been "fairly well attended" since opening on October 29, she added.
One of the socially acceptable posters for the film.