''American Taboo'' is a 1983 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

drama film directed by Steve Lustgarten. Its plot follows a thirty-something year old photographer who begins an illicit romance with a teenage girl. It won the 1983

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Student Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

for Lustgarten, a film student at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Cast

* Jay Horenstein as Paul Wunderlich * Nicole Harrison as Lisa Welch * Hester Schell as Betsy * Mark Rabiner as Michael

Production

The film was shot on location in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

on a budget of $20,000. The feature was a student film by Steve Lustgarten, a film student at

Release

Theatrical distribution

The film screened in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in 1983 in the Film in the Cities' Gallery. It had a revival screening at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

eight years later, in July 1991.

Critical response

Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that the film "has a rich visual elegance. The portrayals Lustgarten elicits from Horenstein and Harrison are amazingly persuasive, especially in the case of Harrison, who keeps us guessing throughout as to whether Lisa really is as sophisticated as she would like us to think she is." ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' also praised the film, noting that Lustgarten "tiptoes around every cliché attached to older-man/young-girl and owl-and-pussycat types of films, creating a refreshing guide to bruised emotions and the insurgent power of love."

Accolades

References

External links

* *{{Allmovie title, 83641 1983 films American drama films Films shot in Portland, Oregon Juvenile sexuality in films American student films Student Academy Award winners Films about pedophilia 1980s English-language films 1980s American films