in brief: Bella Cherry (Sofia Kappel) arrives in LA from Sweden, determined to become the next big porn star despite her relative lack of experience.
for me: Pleasure was… good, but not the great film i expected. i knew very little beyond the hype and the main character’s motivation, and i hoped that a film made post-MeToo by a female film-maker – with a european sensibility – might have something new to say about sexuality, about beauty, and about the porn industry. sadly, it offered nothing more eye-opening than Showgirls, and was nothing anywhere near as empowered as Cam. other than casting a lot of actual porn actors (some of those guys and gals can really act, which has to give one pause for thought) and being fairly frank about the visuals (without being exploitative and actually making it porn) it wasn’t particularly new, and whilst Kappel is good in the lead she does look a lot like an american actor best known for her children’s roles so far, which is more than a little unsettling! the one thing it does well is not to judge the women, or pity them. backgrounds and motivations are joked about, but not invested in, because the actresses are not there to be victims or to be rescued. be they new or established, nice or cold, up-and-coming or going nowhere, the director – and the film – is on their side, and never sneers or demeans their sincerely held ambitions. if anyone watches porn and believes that it is all glamorous and romantic, this will come as an overdue wake up call that even the stars of the industry are not innoculated from exploitation or abuse (but if anyone who watches porn even semi-regularly really believes that it isn’t bad for the girls involved then they are probably a moron, and the message of Pleasure will most likely be lost on them). anyone with even a toe dipped in the real world will be much less shocked, but hopefully still affected.
mvp: managing to capture authentic feeling porn scenes, the scuzzy ordinariness of making ends meet (pun barely intended), and the false glamour that entices so many young women, cinematographer Sophie Winqvist shoots Pleasure beautifully. she switches from handheld roughness to highly polished glamour to unguarded intimacy, and captures every physical and emotional flaw whilst clearly loving her subjects. it’s skillful and respectful – not attributes you can often associate with pornography – and very artful, which is a debate all of its own!
verdict: frank, and often sobering, Pleasure may not add anything to the moral debate, but it is a beautifully made and authentic feeling look at the unpleasant reality of the porn industry.
director Ninja Thyberg // writers Ninja Thyberg and Peter Modestij // released 17/06/22
onedottoomany 