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At one time, his mainstream films were beloved by the critics. The New York Herald Tribune said he was "as important as Godard and Resnais." And Henri Langlois, founder of the famous Cinematheque, announced that "his films are like rivers carrying stones that are absolute gems." (Immoral Tales, p. 209) Benazeraf's reputation diminished as the sex in his films became harder. "It is a little saddening to see one of the very great film-makers relentlessly churning out whatever comes to hand," said one Jose's admirers, Paul-Herve Mathis. Jose loved to flip off society. "One image I find very erotica," he says, "a nude girl with a marriage veil on her head, who is caressing herself or caressing some guy's prick. I find that very provocative at the level of the social concept because it overturns everything...chastity, virginity, all of the fortresses." The 1994 book Immoral Tales calls Benazeraf's 1961 film Sin on the Beach the first European softcore porno. The movie shows "how sexual desire breaks down the rational, conforming shells we try to construct around ourselves." As Paul-Herve Mathis wrote: "His films exist to give you a hard-on. The praise depends upon the size." (Immoral Tales, p. 210) Jose's first hardcore film, Les gouines, appeared in 1975, starring French porn stars Beatrice Harnois and Claudine Beccarie. "Pornography and eroticism can only survive if they are transcended by lyricism," said Benazeraf in 1975. "I had some success with soft movies, but eventually I had to go down into the world of those cheap arseholes - sex film writers and directors who were all completely useless, talentless bastards. They couldn't even serve behind a bar. They had no class, no style, no culture. They put no sophistication into f--- movies and so they committed a kind of autosuicide. Until video came along. And now they add up how much penetration you have on the cassette, how much sodomy, how much S&M - how many minutes of each, and they list that all on the cassette. And so they establish a product. Now the poor girl has to be f---ed 22 times every ten minutes by three men and they put all that into the advertising. "It's [eroticism] a rebellion against the contract of marriage, against society, against religion, against the incredible conservatism all around us today. Now AIDS has frightened people somuch it's killed all forms of rebellion, except voyeurism-and that's the success of video. Video and masturbation."
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