Feeling It!... Not Faking It

An Underground adult movie by Petra Joy from England reminded me of those great, though far more primitive, 16mm short films I used to see in the late 1960s at weekend Midnight screenings in local Cleveland cinemas, like the Heights Art Theater. The difference is tasteful inclusion of XXX content by Petra, but this set of eight silent movies, with lulling music and a lovely cast is refreshing when compared with the rest of 21st century porn.

It's directed from a feminine point-of-view, with mainly role reversals, as the male characters are relatively passive and largely sex objects -the women being the voyeuses for a change. Sex is made up predominantly of hand jobs, gentle blow jobs, fondling, some cunnilingus and fellatio and tastefully shot intercourse. One heroine pegs her male partner with a dildo, for more exotic content, and a lesbian scene features strap-ons.

But the dreamy erotic fantasies approach more generally resembles a softcore movie. Interracial sex is included without the fanfare of its "hit niche" status in today's porn, and all ejaculations are carefully NOT onto some woman's face or body.

I found a black & white outdoor lesbian sequence the most erotic, especially with the touch of moire shadows used as if lace fabric was being worn. The finale, like so many porn movies, is a group sex scene, and it is the least interesting of the short subjects. Opening segment is a modern version of the classic "Geography of the Body", with male and female torsos fondled and painted with messages like "Lick Me".

A simple scene of a stud mowing the lawn, undressing in the heat and mastubating is not all that different from a Stroker movie (like Playgirl used to issue 20 years ago via Wicked Pictures release).

It's soft and lulling, with none of the hard edges one associates with "hardcore" porn, I guess closer to those David Hamiton movies about young, underage-looking girls, but without his indulgent soft-focus photography. The most pointed role reversal has women celebrating with Moet champagne and eating sushi off a male torso, which makes its point rather efficiently. I note that director Petra Joy has a half-hour movie titled "Sexual Sushi" predating this feature.

The only dialogue is for a few seconds after the end credits, when the director appears, laughing and chatting with star Belle.