Review #983: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (1972)

Title: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex

Year: 1972

Director: Woody Allen

Country: US

Language: English

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (but Were Afraid to Ask) was an inexplicable best seller when it first came out. The idea for the film came about when Woody Allen saw Dr. David Reuben promoting his book on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). When asked by Johnny Carson "Is sex dirty?", Reuben replied, "It is if you're doing it right" which is a line from Allen's Take the Money and Run (1969). Allen was offended by the joke being stolen and thus wanted sweet revenge.

Seven segments related to one another only in that they all purport to be based on sections of the book by David Reuben. The segments range from "Do Aphrodisiacs Work?" in which a court jester gives an aphrodisiac to the Queen and is, in the end, beheaded to "What Happens During Ejaculation?" in which we watch 'control central' during a successful seduction.

Dr. David Reuben, the author of the source book, did not like this picture. I did however. Representing something of an early high point in Woody Allen's career, this scattershot spoof has become somewhat sadly overlooked in favour of the more mature and whimsical charms of his later works. Everything You Always Wanted to Know...not only parodies its source material, but also takes shots at Fellini, Antonioni, Bergman and Whale. Its mad I tells ya. 

The segments range from so-so (a jester trying to seduce a queen) to absolutely hilarious. I particularly enjoyed What is Sodomy? wherin Gene Wilder plays a doctor who has a tumultuous affair...with a sheep. The film has many absurd zany moments that are worth watching just to see how ridiculous Allen can get. One segment has a giant tit!

Well made on a technical level, Allen's picture is far too absurd to pass up. It's a strange mix of sophisticated humour and uh...bestiality humour? I don't think this could be remade for audiences in 2017!