Cafe Flesh 2 (VCA) Review

Reviewed by YogaGrrl  on  12/16/2001

Cast: Jeanna Fine, Raylene, Stacy Valentine, Mustang Sally Layd, Rebecca Lord, Alec Metro, John Decker, Tony Tedeschi, Billy Glide, Dave Hardman, Brian Surewood, TT Boy, Vince Voyeur in sex roles; Simon Delo, Veronica Hart, Kitten Natividad in non-sex roles.

Director: Antonio Passolini

Production date: 6/97

Length: 132 min.

Extras: None except a static chapter menu and four criminally short biographies. The disc's length and quality, however, largely mitigate the absence of extras.

Audio/visual quality: Creative color effects saturate the hues in some scenes. This in no way detracts from the movie's heat. Enhanced motion ("slo-mo") is judiciously employed. Close-up shots are remarkably well focused. The music fits the action, yet is strong enough to stand as an independent soundtrack. (This is perhaps to be expected from a director who is also a composer and whose sophisticated musical tastes encompass Elvis Costello, Django Reinhardt and They Might Be Giants.) Sound levels are well mixed; subtle dubbing is present.

Why I chose this DVD: I grew up on a steady diet of wholesome cult classics, such as Dr. Strangelove, Soylent Green, Brazil and Barbarella. So this movie's surrealistic, post-apocalyptic premise (in which nuclear fallout has made 99 percent of the world's population allergic to touch) immediately appealed to my warped sensibilities.

First impression: Cafe Flesh 2 is right up my back alley.

Thumbs up: In a transcript of his Adult DVD Talk chat, Passolini claims, "I hit my peak with my first movie, and it's downhill from there. I'm the Orson Welles of porn." Despite that humorous remark, it's true that Cafe Flesh 2 is one hell of a debut.

A cohesive story links the eight scenes, all of which are gems. For me, scene two crystallizes the spirit of the film. Here, we enter the dreams of Violet Chinchilla (Jeanna Fine), a gritty entrepreneur who's determined to bring the long-defunct Cafe Flesh back into operation. On-the-job at a welding shop, Violet receives a bouquet from a sweet Industrial Dude (Brian Surewood). Of course this leads to immediate sex. Both are dressed in fantastic fetish wear--Violet in a hooded black latex suit that reveals her breasts and Dude in a studded codpiece. They engage in ardent oral and vaginal intercourse, with Violet directing the action. At one point, their coworker takes a lunch break and finally notices they've been having sex right behind him. He munches away on his sandwich for a minute or two, looking thoughtful as he absorbs the action. Finally, he decides to bring them a bench. Violet throws him a kiss as he departs, then she sits down on the bench and goes on to climax without missing a beat. The scene ends with Violet skillfully manipulating her Dude's balls and sticking her tongue out for the facial. Here and everywhere, Passolini achieves just the right mix of long, medium and close-up shots. (Incidentally, I would love to know how Jeanna avoids breaking her back while perching on the shopping cart. Even with all my years of yoga practice, I doubt I could easily accomplish those poses!)

Other Cafe Flesh 2 highlights: Jacques the Mime (John Decker) makes his dick dance on an invisible puppet string while a French Whore (Rebecca Lord) watches in delicious mock disgust; Buffy (Stacy Valentine) is a virgin who wears white panties but poses cross-eyed for her topless promotional photos; and Ferdinand the Bull (Billy Glide) wears a horned headpiece that consists of two flesh-colored dildos, which of course bounce furiously when he humps Mookie the Matador (Raylene). Three scenes contain tastefully filmed anal sequences (no, that is not an oxymoron). Bonus question: can you find Passolini's signature prop--a bust of John F. Kennedy--in the background of one of the sets?

Thumbs down: The lack of extras holds this movie back from a perfect five-star rating. I agree with other reviewers who have remarked that this feature begs for a director's commentary. In all fairness, though, this movie is over four years old, and I think we've come to expect more extras nowadays.

Themes: Voyeurism, double penetration (oral/vaginal, vaginal/anal), facials, oral, anal, rimming (male to female), fetish wear.

Juice-o-meter: Cafe Flesh = full-service juice bar!

Final analysis: If you're looking for something original and unique, yet still hot and graphic, give this feature a try. Personally, I can't wait to view and review (an re-view, again and again) Passolini's more recent movies.


YogaGrrl's e-mail is here.