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"Whatever happened to Private?" is an often-posed question, but
I am more concerned in this review with a similar query about one
of their former stalwarts. Since joining up with Larry Flynt at
Hustler, my perception would be that increasing cynicism and decreasing
quality have been the overriding features of Pierre's productions.
Granted that for some viewers - and in some regards I am one of
them - his style always was an acquired taste, it has still been
disappointing to see his standards slipping and interest in his
work waning. It used to be the case that the latest Woodman epic
was the most anticipated porn release of the year. Frankly, right
now I don't even know what he's up to.
This movie is an example of all of the above. Though only released
this year, Manipulation - a two-part tale of blackmail and murder
set in Cape Town, South Africa - was shot well over a year ago.
The story concerns a businessman, played by Kevin Long, who finds
himself being blackmailed by a combination of his crooked deputy
(Alain Deloin) and a foxy reporter (Demonia) over the murder of
a politician. Unfortunately if quite predictably, neither the story
nor the acting (even allowing for overdubbed dialogue) is up to
much and often the storytelling seems almost amateurish.
While Pierre sometimes shows he has the knack for scene setting,
such as shooting vintage Aston Martins swooshing into palm-lined
driveways at luxury mansions or an enjoyable if completely frivolous
sky-diving sequence, he has still to resolve the age-old issue of
balancing story with pornographic content - his old flaw of using
sex scenes lacking even the most tenuous of connections to the plot
in order to keep the smut quota up is much in evidence. Even with
a near three-hour running time, remarkably little action happens
and I frequently find myself enduring lengthy, run-of-the-mill shagathons
delivered in the usual unemotional style, before a confusingly rapid
fire conclusion cheekily leaves the viewer with an invitation to
check out the continuing story in part 2. I think that presumes
a little too much.
So, those are just some of the faults. On the plus side, Manipulation
naturally features some simply gorgeous girls - perhaps most gorgeous
of whom is Rachel, as the wife of Long's businessman. There's more
than just a name connection with Mrs Brad Pitt. There's a physical
similarity too, from her beautiful face to her perky boobs to her
fine big bum. Most appealing - she really has a fabulous physique.
Backing her up is the double-dealing reporter played by the saucy,
dark-haired Demonia. Their threesome with Kevin Long is the highlight
of the movie. Two black-stockinged babes indulging in some surprisingly
convincing girl-girl play (by Woodman standards at least), with
hot kissing and eager pussy licking before Kevin joins them for
bags of genuinely enthusiastic and energetic sex. Again, while these
adjectives are used in a relative sense, it's actually quite refreshing
to see people actually kissing and looking like they are enjoying
it, because for most of the rest of the movie the performers just
bang away with maximum athleticism and minimum passion, often barely
acknowledging their partner for the whole scene, which is as much
to do with Pierre's approach as anything else.
Elsewhere, the opening sex scene is a glossy, sun-drenched affair
at a spectacular poolside location. Crooked Carlos (Deloin) is also
the lover of his boss's wife, and shares a terribly stilted sex
scene with the gorgeous Rachel, moving from position to position
in a blatantly choreographed way, as if in a game of musical chairs.
The music has stopped! Change position! It's visually striking but
despite the blazing sun on this fabulous terrace - the views of
Table Mountain and the sparkling sea are sensational - there's no
heat about the sex at all. Rather than "torrid affair", this spells
"run-of-the-mill" to me. There's plenty of anal and a facial finish
but it's all about pornosex, straight out of the Woodman how-to
textbook.
Similarly, the sex is strictly business when the philandering husband
relieves his blackmail worries by visiting a villainous buddy (Claudio
Meloni) who shares his stable with him. The delightful Lucy Lee
and the curvy blonde Yvana play good-time girls who permit the chaps
to do the works - oral, anal and double penetration - and I suppose
the style of the sex is in keeping with the slightly sordid scenario.
From a purely pornographic perspective, some athletic oral manoeuvres
are quite impressive and the girls do look lovely, but I fancy this
scene will not live long in the memory.
In the first of a couple of mildly non-consensual scenarios, Carlos
demands a blowjob from office secretary Brenda (the toothy but beautiful
Dijana). Then, supposedly in disguise, he turns up at an isolated
beach location where his wicked co-conspirator (Demonia) provides
him with a beautiful bound and gagged babe (the charming and ever-smiling
brunette Katarina) with whom he can have his wicked way. While the
manner in which he carts her off across the silver sands is more
comedic than menacing, the scene, after some reasonably enjoyable
sex featuring the usual anal exercises, ends in murderous fashion.
The flash of a knife and the off-screen scream are about the most
adroit pieces of story telling in the movie.
But back to the shagging, which continues with a trio of dodgy coppers
taking advantage of the maid (Lilian) at the business guy's mansion.
Lilian, AKA Lillianne Tiger, is one of those ever-presents on the
Prague scene these days, but this early appearance sees her looking
pretty young and sporting jet-black hair rather than her streaked
mane as she takes on the three guys (Pascal, Bob and Joachim - amusingly
cast as a cop with a Polish name). I have to say I find this scene,
albeit in perhaps the classic Woodman set-up of one girl to three
guys, pretty bloody tedious and the same can be said for the last
sex scene in the movie, a completely gratuitous number between a
young air mechanic (Tristan) and a brunette babe (Martina) which
does feature some pretty firm anal and ends with his load sliding
into her gaping bunger, but otherwise is of absolutely no relevance
to the whole operation.
Equally gratuitous, perhaps, but slightly more enjoyable if only
because it indulges my interest in the sexy and submissive Alena,
sometimes known as Belissima, is a scene in which the tall, dark
haired and busty masseuse succumbs to Mr Long's charms...or big
willy, to be honest. The sex is again pretty much straight from
the Woodman textbook but Alena's long legs in black nylons and her
bouncing boobs as she happily accepts Long's considerable length
up her backside carry my interest through to a rather rare finale
in these depilation-crazed times - to wit, he comes on her hairy
bush! Okay, so it's not exactly art, but I know there's an audience
out there for this sort of thing! I also appreciate the scenario
involving someone trying to be proper, doing her job professionally
(she's not that kind of masseuse), being seduced into doing very
naughty things. Which is always fun.
Conclusion
It might be a cliché but the phrase "mixed bag" sums Manipulation
up perfectly. It's got the girls, the cars, the houses, the sex
(albeit in that particular manner), the sunshine…but then again
it's got a silly story, badly told too, that can all too easily
be dismissed out of hand, some debatable direction and an occasional
lack of quality camerawork - I wish Pierre might just once put the
camera on a tripod for those panoramic vista shots! It's hard to
give the impression of "glossy feature" when the camera moves are
like a holiday video.
Based on this, it's hard to know what to make of Pierre Woodman
any more. It's not even as if this is a recent piece of work. All
I can suggest is that Manipulation be taken as a one-off, and in
that regard it's no better or no worse than the average smut flick
on the scene today. Which, by my reckoning, and love or loathe the
guy, was never what Pierre Woodman was about in the past. This is
simply harmless, glossy - though not nearly as slick as it could
be - escapism.
DVD Comments
The picture quality is good, indeed better than many of the products
I've witnessed from Woodman's relationship with Hustler or indeed
from Hustler in general. During dramatic scenes, the dialogue is
dubbed but reverts to original sound for the sex, which does mean
there are some inconsistencies in the audio track, though nothing
to really spoil enjoyment. In terms of extras, there's a behind
the scenes short, which does tend to suggest that some useful explanation
of the story has been snipped (how long could this movie have been?!),
plus some photos, the standard Woodman profile and the usual promotional
bumph.
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