Decadence (Studio A) Review

Studio
Studio A

Genre
Artistic Vignette

Director
Andrew Blake

Starring
Anita Blond, Chelsea Blue, Zdenka, Sophie Evans, Regina Hall, Dita, and Tony Ribas

Running Time
1:26

DVD Format
Single Sided, Single Layer (DVD-5)

Aspect Ratio
1.85:1 (letterboxed)

Special Features
Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, 36-picture photo gallery (mix of hardcore and softcore); 30-minute featurette "Private Property" starring Draghixa and Celeste, and hidden trailer for Decadence

Typical Watchers
Those who like high-gloss girl-girl or who want to see boy-girl sex shot in Blake's style

Typical Haters
Anyone who wants to see more than 15 seconds between cuts or who doesn't like Blake's films

Replay Value
Medium

Themes
Elegant pornography, solo masturbation, lingerie, boy-girl, girl-girl, smoking, kissing, natural breasts

Condoms
None used

If You Liked This DVD, You Should Enjoy
Anything released under Studio A (circa 1996-present)

Shot on location in Venice, Decadence is another one of Andrew Blake's high gloss, mostly girl-girl, artistic films.  Starring Anita Blonde and Chelsea Blue, it gets started off right, with Chelsea's spread pink under the title card.  That's followed quickly with some awesome shots of Anita masturbating in a sheer bodysuit and flashing her tits next to the famous Venetian canals.  Talk about a promising start to another Blake porno chic film!

Unlike his other screenplays, this one does not use a voice-over narrator to describe a story.  Instead, through 18 vignettes we see how Chelsea arrives in Venice (wearing no panties either) to become Anita's lover.  Newcomer Zdenka, a blonde with big tits, serves as the present for the two.  A cigarette smoking Dita von Teese watches the the girls cavort while elegantly masturbating off to the side.  While the sex tends to be more of the lipstick variety, this is definitely not a softcore DVD--in addition to a lot of rubbing and kissing, the masturbation is pretty explicit and Blake emphasizes the spread vulva look without the gynecological vulgarity.

Decadence is not just an all-girl affair though.  As you can see by the vidcaps, I like the boy-girl between Sophie Evans (supposedly her first scenes) and Tony Ribas.  Blake uses the two in three scenes, each intercut with other footage from the main storyline.    Although the frequent cutting between the different vignettes makes it difficult to build up a lot of heat, the stark black and white footage of some creative positions, including a nice standing 69 and flying RCG, reminds me of Dahmane's erotic photography.  The color footage of Sophie riding Tony and getting four fingered is very good--that is if you like the style.

Studio A DVDs are not well-known for a lot of extras, but Decadence includes not only the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack and moderate-sized photo gallery, but also a nice 30-minute long short film by Blake called, "Private Property."  Starring the lovely Draghixa, this featurette tells the story of two women who meet each other via a computer bulletin board.  Draghixa flies the Concorde to meet Celeste and be her sex slave in Paris.  The rest of the film is a series of Blake-style girl-girl vignettes.  Although it's pretty tame and more "hard R"-type pornography (spread labia is about as explicit as it gets), it's a nice little bonus bit of eye candy.

Although the editing in this movie is a little more schizophrenic than typical for Blake, if you like his work, then you'll like Decadence despite the frequent cuts.  The girls are top-notch, the lingerie a fetishist's dream, and the boy-girl action is a welcome change compared to Blake's girl-girl only phase.  As always, if you can't stand the dissonant, atmospheric music with no production sound, the elegant yet distant girls, and the fairly tame action that defines Andrew Blake films, then skip on over to the RLD or Evil Angel aisles.  If you're open to snooty pornography (as I am), then you'll probably find that Decadence falls in the above average tier of Studio A releases.

- Saki (saki@sakivision.com)