Sofia Kappel
“PLEASURE” My rating: B (Rent on Apple TV, Vudu, and Redbox)
109 minutes | MPAA rating: R
What they say about laws and sausages applies as well to pornography: If you want to keep enjoying it, best not learn about how it’s made.
In broad outline the ironically-titled “Pleasure” follows the familiar inside-showbiz template explored in films ranging from “All About Eve” to “Showgirls.” Innocent (or not-so-innocent) young thing is corrupted on her climb to fame and power.
Ninja Thyberg’s film, though, unfolds in the world of L.A. porn, a landscape rarely explored dramatically (although one could argue that “Pleasure” is practically a documentary dive into the dirty world of cheap thrills).
Our protagonist is Bella Cherry (not her real name), a Swede barely out of her teens who has flown halfway around the world to become an adult film star. She is played by Sofia Kappel, who benefits hugely from her chameleonic ability to look either ravishing (when fully made up) or girl-next-door unremarkable.
The screenplay (by Thyberg and Peter Modestij) isn’t much interested in plumbing Bella’s personality or her history. Just how sexually experienced is she? Was she abused? Where did she get the idea that porn might be a viable career?
The film is interested mostly in throwing this young woman into an environment where acts which most of us regard as supremely private are matter-of-factly dissected.
On one level Bella is brutally mercenary. She wants to be a porn star and is willing to burn bridges to get there.
On another, she’s painfully naive. Like many of us she has bought into the erotic allure of porn, not understanding that the onscreen magic is the product of a highly unromantic and cynical process.
Before it’s all over she (and we) will get a crash course in the nuts and bolts of porn production.
Basically Bella will bit-by-bit loosen her standards to become the object of lust the industry is looking for. The degradation is both physical and emotional.
“Pleasure” falls short of being porn itself. While there is considerable nudity, the sexual acts depicted appear to be simulated.
That said, Thyberg has hired real porn professionals to more or less play themselves, There is no shortage of penises in various stages of arousal. After a while the shock value wears off. (Still, this is the hardest R rating I’ve ever seen.)
The pall of nauseous discomfort that hovers over the whole enterprise, though, sticks. Want to convince someone they shouldn’t watch porn? “Pleasure” is Exhibit No. 1.
| Robert W. Butler
Butler's Cinema Scene 