Private Gold 78: Sex City Review

Reviewed by baskkk2003  on  5/10/2006

I've now watched the first part of 'Sex City', the trilogy which marks the much-anticipated return of Pierre Woodman to Private. Woodman makes clear his love of 'Sin City' during the interview he gives in the Extras Disc, and in 'Sex City' he draws from the Hollywood original in many specific and entertaining ways. In the interview Woodman expresses his satisfaction at having broken new visual ground in porn - knowing he's achieved something with this movie which is markedly better than the flood of cheap gonzo drowning out the market. At the same time he is realistic enough to acknowledge that, as a mere porn director with a limited budget, he could never really hope to equal the cinematic standards of a Hollywood film like 'Sin City'. He also acknowledges that the people buying his movie are primarily seeking an enjoyable aid to masturbation - not a demonstration of artistic virtuosity.

Inspired by 'Sin City', Woodman extensively uses the new film noir technique of incorporating black-and-white and colour elements within the same image (with colour being used selectively to highlight, for example, a girl's dress, eyes, lipstick or hair). This technique makes the sex sequences all the more horny and fascinating to watch. Occasionally a scene will flick back and forth between black-and-white only and colour only - so if feels like you're watching a faulty TV set! - but that's the only trick in this visually experimental porno which is at all unsettling. In most scenes, as the climax approaches, Woodman reverts to using colour only, so there is nothing to distract from the impact of the money shot. (My other slight disappointment was with the graphics in the titles sequence. These graphics comprise a series of poorly executed and unflattering likenesses of the leading guys and gals! But overall the movie's visual effects work very well indeed, and 'Sex City' is a must-see film for fans of both Private and Woodman.)

As for the sex, it's very good - and reassuringly Woodmanesque. The girls are mostly gorgeous; my favourite performers in Part 1 are Xenia Lova, Aphrodite Nite and Wildy. There are many great facial cumshots to enjoy, such as the dramatic double splashing Xenia gets at the end. (It's fun to see how Guy #1 jolts back and gasps in ecstasy just before he unloads all over Xenia's delectable features!) All this and Alain Deloin, too - I confess to having felt a rush of nostalgia when I saw him back in action in a Private movie!

In his interview Woodman talks about how long it took to make 'Sex City', and how challenging it was to master the green screen effects. I was actually left wondering whether he might prefer it if future exercises in 'high concept' parody or cinematic trickery fell to other Private directors, freeing him from the burden of overlong production and post-production processes. During Woodman's earlier period with Private it was the likes of Michael Ninn and John Millerman who pushed the envelope in a technical sense (e.g. filming zero gravity fucking), while Woodman himself was free to indulge his derring-do and good-natured romps, shooting sizzling sex in exotic locations. Perhaps he'd like it that way again? - but that's just speculation on my part. In any event, Woodman is already making mention of a next project... so we'll have to wait and see!

Meanwhile I recommend 'Sex City' as a good buy. There's a lot to enjoy in Part 1 and my appetite is whetted for the rest of the trilogy. The Woodman returneth to Private... and that's a cause for celebration!

baskkk2003