Pleasure (4 Stars)

Sometimes I'm so stupid I could kick myself. I was interested in seeing the film "Pleasure" as soon as I heard about it. There was a premiere in Stuttgart on 15th January with the director and the lead actress. I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask. Then I forgot the date. Duh! I just had to go to a normal screening.

The story is about Linnea, a 19-year-old girl from Sweden who goes to Los Angeles to become a porn star. She thinks it will be easy. That's a delusion that many young people have. How difficult can it be to have sex? And being paid for it? The drop out rate in the first few months is high. Men find that they have difficulty performing when surrounded by bright lights and a director who keeps asking them to stop and start again. Women drop out under the psychological pressure of having to do things they find unpleasant.

That's Linnea's story. I should call her Bella, because her stage name is Bella Cherry. When she arrives her first few sessions run well. Vanilla sex, no problems. But then she gets greedy. She's told about Mark Spiegler, a manager whose girls are considered the elite porn stars in Los Angeles. She asks him to manage her, but he turns her down, saying he only accepts girls with experience with rough sex. She asks her current manager, Mike, to arrange rough sex films for her, but she can't go through with it. After being hit and spat at by two men, she has to stop. Everything is consensual, but at a price. She doesn't receive any money for that day, neither do the two male stars, and the director says he'll never work with her again.

This is the ugliest scene in the film. I have to ask what sort of men get off on watching women be abused. A rape scene is simulated for the camera. I can accept this in films like "I spit on your grave", because the rape is part of a narrative that ultimately leads to revenge. But who wants to watch a film which is Boy-Meets-Girl, Boy-Rapes-Girl, The-End? That's ugly. I seriously doubt the morals of any man who likes films like that. 

Mark Spiegler with his girls

Despite this setback, Bella is still determined to be a Spiegler girl. I shan't tell you how she succeeds. Spoilers! All I'll tell you, because it's relevant to the understanding of the film, is that Bella learns that the only way to become a success in the porn industry is to change sides. You're either abused or an abuser. Bella learns to abuse her fellow porn actresses. That's the film's message. The porn industry is ugly. The only way to stop yourself being torn apart is to tear others apart.

Yes, that's the legendary porn director Axel Braun in this photo. What's special about this film is that apart from the main characters, Bella and a few others, everyone in the film is a genuine person from the porn industry playing himself. I'm a big fan of Axel Braun's films. I bought most of his films when he worked for Vivid Entertainment and Hustler. I stopped buying his films when he started working exclusively for Wicked Pictures. I boycott Wicked's films for reasons I don't want to go into here.

Some of my friends are shocked when I say that I watch porn films. I don't know what shocks them more: that I watch them, or that I openly admit it. I like films, regardless of their genre. If a pornographic film is good, I'll watch and review it. Dr. Axel Braun (he has a PhD in Psychology) makes good films. That doesn't mean that I support the ugly free-for-all in the porn industry. I like to think that Axel doesn't aprove of the practises shown in "Pleasure". That was one of the questions I would have asked at the premiere. I like to think he's better than the others. At least he's never filmed simulated rape scenes, as far as I know.

"Pleasure" isn't a pretty film. It's not even an erotic film. It tells the truth. Even though it's not a documentary, it's as accurate as any documentary. Bella Cherry is a girl like any other in the porn industry.