In Miloš Forman's film, Hustler magazine's famous/notorious founder Larry Flint is played by Woody Harrelson. In a bizarre twist to the casting, Larry Flint himself also makes an appearance in the film, playing Judge Morissey in the film's trial. A prank? Something like that. In any case, The People vs. Larry Flynt is a truly American film in every sense. Including the fact that in terms of genre, it is a mix between a biopic and a courtroom drama. Larry Flyny is a Kentucky-born rascal and a social climber, becoming a leading entrepreneur in the porn industry and also a challenger of the law, who lives by the First Amendment of the Constitution: the right to free speech.
Are you a porn lover, do you sympathise with Larry Flynt? Who's in the right? Mind you, let's admit it, these kind of questions don't bring us any closer to Miloš Forman's film. Because the film looks at everything from a range of different perspectives. How much whitewashing does porn need to make it a palatable form of entertainment for the middle classes in the same way as murder and bloodshed? Are we capable of accepting that this one, admittedly non-sympathetic figure stands alone in front of the law? And does the right to passionately defend the truth still exist? Today, in the post-truth era, this is an even more pertinent question. For two hours, we are bombarded with these kind of strange questions. What and how can public opinion be restrained? What is taboo? Where do our limits lie? Can hypocrisy be enshrined in law? What's more, Larry Flynt also makes a very subtle reference to the 1960s and the times of 'Make love not war' that is frighteningly prescient.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest