`Sex, Drugs' In Amsterdam -- Film Celebrates Dutch Freedoms

Movie review

XXX "Sex, Drugs & Democracy," documentary directed and edited by Jonathan Blank. Grand Illusion. No rating; includes nudity, sex scenes, rough language. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Can it be that two decades have passed since American moviegoers laughed themselves silly at the hysterically anti-pot 1930s movie, "Reefer Madness"?

And just 14 years since Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda casually shared a joint in a hugely popular PG-rated mall movie called "Nine to Five"? It's impossible to imagine a mainstream Hollywood movie pulling that off today.

This summer may mark the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock festival, but Jonathan Blank's provocative new documentary, "Sex, Drugs & Democracy," suggests the spirit of the event may be alive and well not in the U.S. but in the Netherlands.

In Amsterdam as well as smaller Dutch towns and villages, drug and sex laws seem as relaxed as they were at American rock festivals of the late 1960s and early 1970s. A glowing poster for Cheech & Chong's "Nice Dreams" sets the tone for coffee shops where marijuana can be purchased. Nude sunbathing is commonplace, live sex shows are aimed at gay and straight audiences, and prostitutes talk openly about special services for handicapped customers.

Opening with a Spinoza quote on the nature of true freedom, Blank's movie demonstrates how the Dutch government copes with its legal junkies and hookers, while getting around international agreements about drug prohibitions. Suggesting that when marijuana is available, it no longer becomes a stepping stone to harder drugs, the movie singles out tobacco and alcohol as the deadliest killers.

Blank uses newsreels of Dutch royalty and excerpts from the Dutch constitution to reinforce the idea that legalization is part of a government agenda that also includes free health care and education, housing assistance, and an economic policy that brings the poor and the rich much closer together. Pointed comparisons are made with the recent riots in Los Angeles, the plague of female circumcision in some countries, the pope's obsession with sexuality and the prison-crowding American "war on drugs."

Dutch authorities discuss their reluctance "to apply criminal law to control human behavior." A senator allows that she isn't in favor of prostitution, but "it seems necessary"; because of AIDS and venereal disease, she prefers a legalized, more health-conscious sex industry. A judge, a lawyer, a policeman and the national director of Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco Policy talk about the pragmatic nature of Dutch laws.

"The laws are for us, not we for the law," says one contented Dutch citizen.

Occasionally the cheeriness of the movie seems a little forced. Interviews with prostitutes, designed to suggest that they're happy in their work, are less than convincing, especially when the women concentrate on the money they're putting away. "I was very much in love with my boyfriend," says one who admits that "I did it for the money."

But the lineup of statistics and articulate spokespersons for the Dutch experiment is ultimately quite impressive. While the movie resists the idea that this is utopia, it does effectively argue its case.