AllMovie

The opening sequence of this film, a quick history lesson in human evolution. First we see images of the Paleolithic, the Mesolithic, and the Neolithic ages then straight into the Copper, Bronze and Iron epochs. Acclaimed Quebec experimental filmmaker Jean Pierre Lefebvre opens this first instillation of a five part series by asserting that contemporary human society is in the Pornolithic Age -- the Age of Images. Interspliced with images of Lefebvre's infant son's wide-eyed gaze, the film analyzes and critiques our culture of violent images by culling footage from TV. Lefebvre presents us with images of jingoistic Westerns, national and racial stereotypes, the spectacle of the Clarence Thomas / Anita Hill hearings, the massacre of the Branch Davidians in Waco, and of the toddler murdered by a pair of ten year olds in Liverpool. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.