Castings 11: Micaella Tender Black Beauty Review

Reviewed by Nat Hocken  on  1/27/2003

“Private Castings 11,” which bills itself as a “unique collection in which Pierre Woodman takes you behind the scenes and shows you the secrets of his castings and backstage performances,” is a film for those who enjoy all those “Behind the Scenes” features on other discs. It isn’t a sex film in the ordinary sense; it’s more of an extended documentary that shows us how one director introduces himself to potential female talent and then, through interviews, tries to gauge their suitability for his films. Following the interviews, we see the girls in action, in excerpts from photo shoots and movies.

Woodman’s typical interview takes place in a hotel bedroom. If the girl hasn’t heard of him or doesn’t know what he does for a living, a couple of explicit magazines within arm’s reach of the girls help clarify matters. Then he asks them to strip, turn, and, finally, to assume the doggy-style position on the bed, looking back over their shoulder at the camera. Woodman’s insistence on this position suggests that it has special importance to him, though whether for personal reasons or as a means of breaking down the girls’ resistance isn’t clear.

His questions are generally simple and straightforward: name, age, that sort of thing; after they’ve seen the magazines, he asks about their sex lives, whether they like the pictures, and so on. A couple of the girls tell him they don’t like the pictures; one says she does, but doesn’t think she could ever do the things depicted in them. (Woodman’s response to the latter: Every girl says the same.) In the end, though, as the excerpts that follow the interviews show, they not only can, but do.

The excerpts are absolutely necessary to the enjoyment of this film. Without them, the whole process would appear seedy as hell, a sorry excuse to get a bunch of young girls to take their clothes off. But seeing the girls in action lends the whole affair a certain legitimacy. After all, only one of them looks as though she’d rather be somewhere else. At 18 and still in her last year of high school, this girl, a Russian named Lydia, might be the youngest of the lot. Woodman himself thinks she’s the least intelligent. The others, however, seem to be enjoying themselves.

In a stroke of brilliance, Woodman concludes his film with his interview of 20-year-old Evia. Evia admits up front that she isn’t sure she wants to do what Woodman is asking of her. She strips, though, and turns for the camera. When Woodman asks her to assume the usual position, however, she refuses. End of interview, end of film—leaving us with the comforting impression that all the girls had to do, if they didn’t want to work for Woodman, was say no.

Thus comforted, it’s easier to appreciate the film’s fascinating elements. The girls themselves are, of course, the main attraction. Young, attractive, nervous but game, they’re really quite cute to watch. Most of them hail from Hungary and Russia and don’t speak either English or French (as Woodman does) so subtitles are provided for us to follow along. Woodman himself has a woman translating for him. Occasionally, he and the translator talk among themselves. At one point during his interview with Brigitte, he flatly asks the translator if she thinks Brigitte will do the job. The translator isn’t sure; Brigitte’s boyfriend is in another room, she says, but then, she adds, he’s very young, only 18. Woodman, who must have witnessed this scenario countless times before, says, “Poor guy”—and the next thing we know Brigitte’s taking facials during a photoshoot in the mountains.

The photoshoot excerpts are in some ways more interesting than the video work. The thought crossed my mind that fans of the facial should start demanding videotaped photoshoots: because of the nature of still photography, which requires the model to remain stationary for extended periods of time, I think it’s quite possible that these girls swallow more cum than their video counterparts.

Anal sex is the thread woven throughout all the excerpts. What works for cumshots doesn’t always work for sex, though, anal or otherwise. During the photoshoots, the guys are allowed to move in and out to some extent (in order, one presumes, to keep themselves hard), but the movement is minimal and therefore less exciting. The video excerpts make up for this to some degree, but they are just excerpts, after all—anyone tuning in for the sex will likely be disappointed. (Girl/girl fans should pass on this film entirely. Only one very brief video segment features any girl-on-girl action.)

As a documentary, though, (and as a peek behind the scenes of a porno photoshoot) “Private Castings 11” is solid entertainment. But it still leaves you wanting more. Woodman’s interviews are so brief and many of the girls so clearly inexperienced that it’s difficult to suppress the idea that we’re missing a lot. More than one of the girls expresses reluctance at the thought of anal sex, yet when we see them in action, they look pretty comfortable with it. What about their first day on the set? What kept them around after that first anal penetration? Their first facial? Maybe a later installment will address these intriguing questions.