Passion In Venice

From: Jamal Dunbar ([email protected])
Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.erotica
Subject: Review: Passion in Venice
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 97 11:28:42
Organization: Teleport - Portland's Public Access (503) 220-1016

# Passion in Venice
c 54.7 1995 Ultimate, Cameron Grant & Joe D'amato {108}
. Deborah Wells, male {p.Ds|Rc}
. Anita Blond, Juli Ashton, Mark Davis
. Kelly Trump, male, Sean Michaels
. Deborah Wells, Juli Ashton
. Bernadette {h.Sh/Bk;b.L/N}, Eric
. Juli Ashton, Mark Davis
. Valentina, male
. Deborah Wells, Bernadette {a}, Sean Michaels
  Anita Blond, Valentina, male, Juli Ashto {e.F}
f Bernadette, Valentina
m Frank Mallone, Valentino, Backey Jackie, Attila

Plot: Industrial intrigue in Venice as two conglomerates vie for
      the rights to a new synthetic fabric. Huh?

Synopsis:

1) Deborah Wells in a hotel room with the waiter.
   [This give me an idea for hardcore version of the board game Clue.
    "I suspect Juli Ashton in the Library with the Silver vibrator"]

Anyway.  Deborah argues on the phone her lawyer, as the waiter begins
eating her pussy.  Boy, we've never seen that before, have we?  As soon as
sex begins in earnest, there's no sound only music.  Deborah looks great.
She does some standing doggie and some reverse cowgirl.

2) Anita Blond, Juli Ashton, Mark Davis

Deborah's protege, Juli Ashton arrives from the states with the contracts.
She's greeted by Mark Davis.  Later she follows Mark through the streets of
Venice and spies on him coupling with a gorgeous natural (in every way)
blonde in a courtyard.  She imagines herself taking the blonde's place and
also joining in to make a threesome.  Again the sound is mostly washed out
by music.

This is one of the scenes singled out by Imperator.  Now Anita Blond
is undeniably gorgeous, but I thought the scene was rather soft,
almost cable-ready.  The sex takes place in basically one position, 
slight variations of a standing doggie.

Furthermore, I'm becoming less and less of a Juli Ashton fan.  There's just
something not quite right about her face, that I find distracting.  And
next to Anita Blond, well she pales by comparison.

3) Kelly Trump, male, Sean Michaels

Deborah has to travel to another city, so she sends Juli to an important
meeting with their partner in this venture.  They talk business for a bit,
then the partner, Eric, says he has prepared some entertainment.  Enter
Kelly and friends.  This could have been a great scene, Kelly has shown
herself to be a very hot performer.  But the camera rarely finds the right
angles, and when it does it immediately moves on to something duller.  What
should have been a nasty DP ends looking a little too "pretty" and almost
softcore.  I think the same can be said for all the scenes in this film,
but it is especially apparent in this scene.

Eric start to put the moves on Juli.  Mortified, she runs out in to
the waiting of Mark Davis.

4) Deborah Wells, Juli Ashton

Deborah is pissed by Juli childish behaviour of the previous day which
could have blown the deal.  She wonders if Juli has what it takes to
succeed in this cut-throat business.  But they kiss and make up.  Yawn.
Girl/Girl material is almost always and automatic fast-forward for me.


5) Bernadette, Eric on a yacht cruising the canal Venice, I guess.

Eric takes his pleasure with a woman with short, dark hair and full natural
breasts who reminds me a bit of Selena.  This could have been a very good
scene as well, but again the editing is "artsy" and an impatient.  Promising
shots are set up, but do not pan out.  There are couple good shots of her in 
RC and mish positions, but they aren't held for any length of time.

6) Juli Ashton, Mark Davis

Business is going well and Juli has some time off.  So she and Mark take in
the sights (ala Before Sunrise) and end up fucking in a  little garden.

7) Valentina, male

The competitor arrives and town, and a call girl is sent to seduce him.
She fucks him and steals his laptop.


8) all-cast orgy.

The "all-cast" orgy is a masqued ball and is really quite lame.
There's only a few good shots of Anita, Deborah and Bernadette.

The surprise ending comes mostly out of nowhere really.

Notes:

I am unsure of the identities of Anita Blond, Kelly Trump, Bernadette, and
Valentina.  I'm pretty sure that I have the first two correct, but the
other two are just guesses.  [Imperator has since Confirmed my
identification of Anita and Kelly].

Summary:

Well I don't think I'll be watching any more videos from Cameron
Grant and Ultimate (I'm not sure about Joe D'amato).   Although,
I may still give "The Palace" a screening.

I don't think this film merits as lengthy review as I given.
But I wanted to fully rebut the Imperator.

I can't believe the Imperator gave this a 3.40.  Well, actually I can,
since in the same article he confesses a fondness for soft-care, and since
has always championed "so-called" Golden Age films which to me always
seemed to me to be long on plot and atmosphere, and rather short on
sex.

Imperator wrote:

>I didn't care too much for the patchy plot of this feature, but I can find
>no fault with the sex.  Technically the film is immaculate and the camera
>work flawless.  The sets were opulent and sometimes outdoors (a huge plus
>for me).  Unfortunately, the best scenes were ruined by Corny Porno Music
>(CPM).

Immaculate.  Now that's kind of an odd word to use to describe a sex film,
isn't it.  But I have to agree the film looks pretty, but fails to generate
any sustained heat.