Directed by:
MICHAEL NEY
Produced by:
SENSORY IMAGE ****
I first got to hear about Australian photographer Noel Graydon when Sydney director Michael Ney got in touch about using some magazine covers in a documentary he was making about the snapper.
But who exactly is Graydon? Ney’s film gives the answer in a fascinating programme that provides as much insight into the nature of BDSM and the communities involved in it as about the specific individual it profiles. Graydon is a young photographer who a few years ago became so fascinated with Sydney’s BDSM scene that he became a professional master. And then he became a heroin addict — twice — before eventually escaping addiction to marry and raise a family.
The film documents Graydon’s obsessive search for SM ‘authenticity’. It uses images from his portfolio both to illustrate his own philosophies and to introduce insights into different aspects of pervery from a variety of interesting and articulate characters on the Sydney scene. Its style is frank and revelatory but also refreshingly non-judgemental.
My main criticism of the original, generous feature-length version of Liberty In Restraint was that it was too long for a documentary on a man who, outside the Sydney scene, is neither that well known nor as yet widely acclaimed as a fetish photographer. Ney has since re-edited it and has produced a tighter, less indulgent and more effective version. TM (First reviewed Sep 05)
www.libertyinrestraint.com
