Emperor

Other directors may obsess over the sex and/or the look of their adult movies, but I don't know that there's anyone who concentrates on story and acting more than Paul Thomas. His movies rarely dazzle with their visuals, but they almost always manage to tell a good yarn, and we get another one with his release of Emperor. Shot back in the fall of 2004 but not released until now, Emperor has been noteworthy to this point because of a now infamous scene between stars Rocco Siffredi and Janine where reportedly a condom tip was cut off and all hell broke loose on the set. Hopefully now, Emperor will be remembered for something else: telling a pretty damn good tale, with some fine acting to boot.

Thomas has stated (as he does again here in the accompanying commentary track) that his inspiration for Emperor comes from Federico Fellini's 8 ½, but after viewing the film, I can't help but wonder if the main message of the movie comes from within Thomas himself. There are some less than subtle suggestions that the director that Rocco plays in Emperor just might be a reflection of Thomas himself, and how he feels about his life and career. In fact, Thomas actually plays a guide who comes to Rocco's character during some of the subconscious wanderings that he has during the movie.

Emperor is far from the typical porn movie. In fact, it took me a good two-viewings and some help from Thomas' commentary track to figure out exactly what he was trying to say and where he was trying to go in many of the scenes. Thomas has never been one to shy away from the less direct modes of storytelling, and a good chunk of Emperor features an introspective Rocco character, as he examines his life and visually sees some of the things he may have missed out on.

The storyline basically follows Rocco as he arrives at Cannes to promote his latest film. But as is the case with many artists, Rocco is starting to wonder if he's done all there is to do, both in his art and in his life. As the movie progresses, Rocco begins to expand both his sexuality and his artistic desires, and eventually gets drawn into the world of pornographic films. Of course, those not picking up Emperor for the story need not worry - there's a whole lot of steamy sex along the way.

The two most recognizable females in the cast are former Vivid Girls Janine and Dasha. Dasha is playing Rocco's ex-wife, while Janine becomes his new wife as the movie unfolds (incidentally, the synopsis on the box mixes up these two characters' roles). But it's Tawny Roberts who has the first big scene with Rocco (his character has an "open" marriage...we should all be so lucky!), in which she gets anally slammed in the spoon, doggy and missionary positions.

The controversial scene between Rocco and Janine is next, and takes place in an empty theater. Ironically, at first glance there's no indication of any kind of underlying animosity between the two performers, and it's only from Thomas' statements in the commentary and additional stuff in the behind the scenes material (and, of course, prior knowledge from the Internet) that viewers will realize anything at all unseemly happened.

Janine's hottest scene in the movie isn't the one with Rocco - it's a back alley scene where she makes out with a cab driver played by Manuel Ferrara. Janine gets fucked hard, squirts at one point, and even takes a cum blast right onto her face at the conclusion. Janine's other sex scene comes late in the film, when she makes out with Dasha in Rocco's hotel room.

As for Rocco, in addition to the individual scenes with Tawny and Janine, he has a threesome with Tera Bond and Alberto Rey; gets involved in a mini-orgy with some gypsies (this is one of his subconscious segements); makes out with blonde Veronica Carso; and has a movie-ending pairing with Dasha where he gives her anal and she jerks his cum onto her chest.

Just as impressive as the movie is a bonus disc that Vivid has included in this release, which starts off with a 36-minute behind the scenes featurette. Included in the behind the scenes segment is Janine beginning to tell what happened between her and Rocco, only to have Paul Thomas suggest that they edit it out...which they do (you can visibly see the jump-cut during the interview).

The real "jewel" of the bonus disc is the inclusion of five deleted sex scenes from Emperor. This is not simply extended footage from sex already in the movie, but rather five different sex scenes that did not appear in the film. Janine is featured in three of the five - a blowjob-only scene in a car with Rocco (during which she takes an oral pop-shot); the original scene in the movie theater, which is a threesome involving Julian; and a solo masturbation scene in a bathtub with a glass dildo.

The bonus disc also includes extended footage from the sex scenes that are in the final cut of Emperor (an impressive 71-minutes worth!); deleted dialogue footage (3 ½ minutes); bloopers and outtakes (7 ½ minutes); five bonus scenes from other Vivid releases (three of which feature Janine); four trailers; and slide shows for both Janine and the movie.

I don't think I was quite as impressed with Emperor this year as I was with Paul Thomas' other major film, Fade To Black 2, but make no mistake -- both are very good movies and deserving of a spot in your adult library. It will be interesting to see if Emperor's surrealism alienates porn audiences out there, but for those of you who like to think while you're getting off, this is one you should enjoy quite a bit.

This for sure is a movie worth its money.
High end production with a super great cast, both men and female cast.
My all time favourite Tawny Roberts does a super great scene at the beginning. Then at the end we get to see two really nice group sex scenes, could see thoose two scenes over and over again.