In Labyrinth of Russian Love Review

Distributor: Brave Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Foreign Also known as: In the Labyrinth of Russian Love Run Time: 113 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 1998 Director: Armen Oganezov Written by: uncredited in English Cast: Alla Prikolnaya, Marianna Zabludovskaya, Exotichka Chernaya, Szopa Krasnaya, Vlaga Vlasznaya, Pohuist Pohuyeusky, Trach Trachtenberg, Ebar Ebarevsky Release Specs: Audio: Russian Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (dubbed) Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Disc: DVD 5 (SS, SL) Special Features: Previews DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
Italian tourist Mario goes to Russia and meets Irina, who has just broken up with her boyfriend, in his hotel. Irina introduces Mario to the Russian night life and after that brings him on a sexual journey that is more than he ever bargained for.

Video/Audio:
In Labyrinth of Russian Love is presented in a full screen aspect ratio, 1.33:1, which appears to be the original aspect ratio for the film. If there was any cropping in the film, it was not evident from viewing the film. The video quality is good. The picture is free of blemishes and artifacts. There appears to be slight compression artifacts present in the picture, which are most noticeable in the dark scenes. The color levels are correctly set.

The audio tracks available in the film are the original 2.0 Russian Stereo track and a 2.0 English dubbed Stereo track. The Russian audio track is full and robust and makes good use of the front stereo speakers. The English dubbed track is well done for an adult dub track. The sound present is more subdued than in the Russian track. During the first half of the film the dubbing is very good with almost a line for line translation. There are a couple lines the in film which were not dubbed, but the viewer is able to understand what is going on in the scenes. In the second half of the film there is less dubbing and the viewer has to rely more on what is going on in the scene than the dialog. Overall, the dub track is better than most of the Private films English dubbed tracks that I have heard but not as good as the English dubbed tracks done by Marc Dorcel. There are places where the music battles with the dialog making the dialog hard to hear. There are no other language tracks and no subtitle options available.

Chapters/Time Code:
There are no chapter selections from the main menu for In Labyrinth of Russian Love. There are 38 chapter stops available for the viewer within the film which break up the film very well although they are hard to use to find a spot the viewer is looking for as there is no description for them anywhere. They can basically be used for quick fast forwarding purposes only. There is a time code for this feature, so time searching is available.

Special Features:
In Labyrinth of Russian Love is rather bare of extras. The disc is truly a dual language disc, not only are there English and Russian audio tracks, but the menus are also in English and Russian making the disc easily accessible to viewers that can understand either language. The available previews are for Russian Cops, Russian Cops 2, Russian Cops 3, Sexual St. Petersburg, Sexual St. Petersburg 2, Sexual St. Petersburg 3, Sex Russian Style, Great Russian Sexual Revolution, Beautiful Russian Life, In Labyrinth of Russian Love, Russian Country Holidays, The Russian Girl Photographer, The Russian Sexual Battle on Ice, and Russian Suburbs of Fun. I have always liked having the inclusion of the trailer for the feature film, which this disc does provide.

Review:
In Labyrinth of Russian Love starts as a plot based Russian sex comedy that is similar to the American mainstream sex comedies of the early 80s but toward the end it turns into more of a fetish-based film. This film is unlike any adult film that I have seen before and is truly unique in content and style. This film definitely requires an open-minded viewer as it is very different from the adult films produced in and imported to America. The plot is more than just filler between the sex scenes. The first half of the film lays down the plot and sets up the film. Except for some tease scenes the first actual sex scene doesn't appear until forty-three minutes into the film.

Due to the pacing and design of the film, the sex scenes are far less graphic than we get in American films but the majority of them are far more erotic than most of the scenes in recent American productions. Although there are some graphic portions to the sex scenes, much of the action is only implied and not graphically shown. This makes for far more erotic and natural looking sex scenes than the often mechanical looking scenes that are too often produced in modern American adult films. The drawback to this style is it will most likely turn away the fans of nastier sex. Those that will get the most enjoyment out of this film are exploratory couples. There is a welcome comedic element throughout the film as well.

The female cast is attractive and seems to be enjoying themselves in the film and interact well with each other. There is only one male adult performer, who looks slightly effeminate, but fits his role perfectly. As the credits are all in Russian, I'm not going to even try to make an attempt to identify the performers. Much of the action that takes place on the screen is lesbian in nature. The sexual themes that are present in the film are oral and vaginal sex with lesbian scenes and fetish scenes with food, domineering, group sex and strip teases.

Although there are many positive aspects to the film, there are some portions that detract from the enjoyment of the film as well. There are some odd video speed effects that hinder the sex scene at the one hour and five minute mark. The film runs at an unnaturally fast speed causing the heat in the scene to be destroyed. There is also some choppy editing in places that distracts the viewer from what is going on in the scene. And, as I always complain about with foreign adult films, there is no English subtitle track to allow the viewer to watch the film in the original language and still understand what is being said.

Other than the previously noted issues, the photography in the film is great. The camera captures the abundant heat in the scenes and the framing is excellent. There are also some beautiful exterior shots of Russian locations present in the film. The sets are well done and along with the exterior locations they all fit the scenes that they are used in and enhance the film. The music that is used in the film is good. It is a combination of upbeat synthesized music and songs with English singing.

The Money Shot:
Although In Labyrinth of Russian Love is not for all tastes, the open-minded viewer and exploratory couples who like a plot-based film and don't require long and extremely graphic sex scenes will be rewarded with a film that is unlike the common product on the market today. Viewers that require nasty sex, long sex scenes, messy cum shots or hate a plot will want to steer clear of this title.

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