Bliss (VCA) Review

Running Time: 128 min.

Production Date: May 1999

Director: Antonio Passolini

Cast: Juli Ashton, Tina Tyler, Chloe, Gina Ryder, Nikita, Tony Tedeschi, Steve Hatcher, Joel Lawrence, and Othiym

Initial Expectations: Passolini alone is enough for me to have extremely high expectations, let alone adding a cast like this.

Initial Reaction: Wow. Bliss has one of the best scripts I’ve seen in an adult film, an amazingly talented cast working with it, and great sex. If that isn’t enough, VCA has given it a great transfer and a lot of extras.

Audio /Video Quality: Both are great. There’s very little pixelation and the sound balances out very well.

Music: There’s almost no music to Bliss and it works great. The few moments with music have it so far in the background that it’s barely noticeable.

Review: The more I think about Bliss the more I think of it as an adult version of American Beauty . Actually, Bliss came before American Beauty , so we should probably thank Mr. Passolini for inspiring the latter movie. Luckily, Mr. Passolini chose Juli Ashton to head the cast rather than Kevin Spacey. Don’t get me wrong, I think Mr. Spacey is one of the finest actors of our time. It’s just I don’t really want to watch him getting busy.

Bliss revolves around three flawed couples who are all falling out of love. Juli and Joel appear to be the happiest of the couples. Of course, Joel doesn’t know that Juli’s fucking most everybody she meets. Tony and Tina are getting a divorce. Tina has turned into an ice queen and has turned her attention to other women since Tony is fucking almost every woman he meets. That includes Juli, with whom he has what was supposed to be a quickie in her home while their significant others talk in the kitchen. Then there’s Steve, Tony and Joel’s boss, and Nikita. Steve thinks the only way to treat women is badly, and Nikita yearns for a man who will treat her right. It’s almost like Scorcese did the characters.

Most of the story is about Juli, who realizes that Joel is a wonderful husband and wants to change her cheating ways. It almost sounds like it should be a country song. Unlike a country song, there’s no dogs or double wide trailers here. If country songs were as well done and had as much great sex in them as Bliss does, it would be the only music anybody would listen to. Tony doesn’t think she can stop, and more to the point doesn’t want her to. She’s also sleeping with Steve, who almost blows it when they have dinner together. Juli tries confiding in Tina about her infidelities, well, except for Tony being one of the people she’s sleeping with, but they only end up sleeping together also.

Tony really wants to get back together with Tina, but he also can’t stop cheating. Part of it seems to be that he doesn’t want to stop cheating. Tina does not want to think about giving him a second (or maybe third, fourth, or fifth) chance. She knows that he’s been cheating on her pretty much since the day they were married and has had enough. Tony is even willing to resort to hiring prostitutes and even pays extra if she’ll act like she’s enjoying herself.

Joel is perhaps the most lost, and the closest to a good guy in Bliss . He knows that he and Juli are having problems, but he doesn’t know what to do. He’s tried talking to Juli about it to get things sorted out, but she won’t be completely honest with him. Nikita is in a similar situation, as Steve constantly treats her like crap while she tries making their relationship work and turn it into a loving relationship. She comes on to Joel after he gives her a ride home one night, and after a couple drinks, Joel can’t resist.

Steve, unfortunately, can’t understand how or why this would happen. He’s perfectly happy coming home on his lunch break for a quicky. There’s less commitment that way, and to his way of thinking, Joel and Tony are a couple of whipped losers. He’s at least enough of a gentleman to throw Nikita a towel before he heads out the door. He meets his match in Chloe, however, when he picks her up at the bar and takes her to the nearby cheap motel. Chloe likes being treated like crap during sex, and that’s fine with him. He doesn’t expect her to force him to leave right afterwards and expects her to pull a can of Mace even less.

With writing this good one might think that the sex is ignored, which is far from the truth. The sex is as well done as the writing. The camera angles aren’t your typical camera angles either. In some cases, the sex isn’t even in the foreground. It gives Bliss a very fresh feel and is artistic while still feeling new. The lack of a soundtrack during the sex also gives it a very realistic feel. When Juli and Tony screw in Juli and Joel’s bathroom all you hear is the sounds of their passion. It’s restrained and almost draws you in where if a sound is out of place you’re afraid they’re going to rapidly get dressed. When Steve and Chloe or Tony and Gina are using the cheap hotel room as a well, a cheap hotel room, rather than hear some bad techno music or other music you think was used in the first porno you ever watched and quite a few others since, you hear the traffic outside and a dog barking in the distance.

Bliss isn’t what most anybody expects from a porno. In fact, it doesn’t even seem right to refer to it as a porno. It’s a true adult movie. There’s characters, a plot, and acting. Yes, there’s sex and it’s extremely well done, but it’s not what drives Bliss . Instead, Bliss is driven by the characters, almost all of whom you feel something about. It’s one of the few adult films which could probably even hold its own without the sex.

Extras: As with most VCA DVD releases, Bliss includes trailers, a photo gallery, bios, true multiple angles, and web site and contact information. The trailers included are for Dark Garden, Torn, and DMJ 6 . The photo gallery is automated and lasts almost two and a half minutes with about six seconds per still. It’s one of the clearest photo galleries I’ve seen. The bios include Juli Ashton, Nikita, Tina Tyler, and Chloe. There’s a link to one of their scenes, some personal information, and a few stills. It’s your typical VCA bio, which isn’t such a bad thing. There aren’t a lot of scenes with multiple angles, but the few times I checked they did appear to be true multiple angles.

Unlike most DVDs, Bliss has not just one, but two commentaries with Antonio Passolini, Juli Ashton, and Tina Tyler. In the original commentary, Mr. Passolini thought it would be funny to use an Italian accent. It is amusing, but nearly as amusing as he thought it would be. He also explains many of the metaphors he used in the movie. The second commentary he uses what we assume is his usual voice and he deals with many of the realistic aspects of the movie. Both commentaries are very well done and worth listening to. Although they’re both done by the same people there’s quite a bit of different information on each commentary.

The behind the scenes gave a really nice feel to the cast as people. Since it's only ten minutes of a movie that lasts over two hours, there isn't a lot of behind the scenes stuff. There are a few short interviews with Tina, Joel, Nikita, Juli, and one of the crew members.

Themes: Straight, lesbian, anal, spanking, rimming (male > female), light B&D, and tit-fucking

Raincoat Factor: Medium. The plot adds a lot to the movie, but if you’re just looking for a wank you can skip it.

Overall: Currently, Bliss can be found online for between $19 and $25 with many stores offering it for under $22. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. Mr. Passolini has really outdone himself and VCA has given it the treatment it deserves. This movie deserves a shelf of its own, or at least a shelf for it and Passolini’s other masterpieces.

Note to VCA: Once again, great job on an amazing movie. Thank you for including both commentaries rather than leaving Mr. Passolini’s Italian accent commentary to die. I hope in the future you will release more DVDs as good as this.

If you have any questions or comments, please e- mail me .