Winner: 2003 Hard Choices Award
Review 1
Is it possible to cry during a gay porn flick? And I am not just referring to weeping over the exquisite beauty and incredible bodies and cocks that are on display, or the sex -- which is fabulous. No, in this case it's Lucas Kazan at it again, adapting the basic theme, as well as the music, of a famous Italian opera to tell his tale, this time inspired by Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" (1892). It's a tale of unrequited love and betrayal that ends in tragedy, of course, but like his previous masterpiece, "A Sicilian Tale," he uses the music and the anticipation of joy, madness and tragedy to induce the viewer to cream in his pants while shedding a tear. And that is a very strange, and wonderful, sensation.
The story is very simple, and I will use the actor's names instead of the characters they play to describe it. Slava Petrovich is the object of everyone's desire in a company of extraordinarily beautiful performers touring Italy in a circus tent, which is the main prop of the opera, which involves unrequited love among clowns. He is fucking a fellow actor, the magnificent Pietro Rosselli (as Canio, the leader of the players), but carrying on a major side-affair with the legendary Max Orloff (as Silvio, a villager). But as much of a slut as he is, Slava (as Nello, Canio's lover) is being pursued by another, Ivan Andros (as Tonio, a clown) whom Slava has no time for. There's the conflict, there's the set-up for the music, and it works.
Kazan uses the prologue from the opera to set the mood and introduce the plot, such as it is; it's lip-synched in clown face by Sergio Perrini, and fades into Slava and Pietro kissing in their Speedos on a rocky beach. Slava is a muscled dirty-blond Eastern European with a wide face, heavy eyelids, pouty lips, magnificent cock and bubble-butt. Pietro is every Italian matinee idol fantasy come true -- dark-haired, fair-skinned, aquiline nose, chiseled chin, fabulous body, cock to die for, ass needing some fucking. They couple on the rocks and move to the tent where Pietro licks Slava all over, fingers his butt, tosses him on a table, and applies his tongue from Slava's pucker, up his fat, rounded balls and along his slightly crooked cock shaft, pausing here and there to plunge his tongue in the hole as the strains of the opera underscore the scene (scored by Andrea Ruscelli and Matt Locke on piano, violin and flute). He stands up and sticks his fat Italian sausage in Slava's well-prepped hole and fucks him slowly missionary until streams of cum spurt from his lover's cock. Pietro pulls out and spurts his cream from a remarkably similar looking, uncut shaft, all over Slava's crotch. Pietro then turns around and invites Slava to toss his cock into his Italian melon. In this and all other scenes, the camera work is exceptionally crisp, framed right all the time (the close-ups are not overly long, the pan shots are closely cropped). Slava cums in deep spurts on Pietro's cheeky butt, and drops to his knees to bring his lover off.
We now move to three extraordinarily masculine muscle gods who are practicing their gymnastic routine under the big top. They are led by the coach, Vilem Cage, the Czech super god who gives one of his best, least detached performances in this scene. He is joined by a baby-faced, tattooed power pack of muscle and cock power, Max Veneziano, who is a cross between beautiful and cute. The trio is completed by the astonishing Antonio Armani, a graying hunk in the mold of Kazan's great discoveries of the past, Pietro Catani. These three, bare-chested and in clinging gym pants, help each other through their paces in a languid, sensuous, body- and cock-rubbing orgy of foreplay before Vilem and Max -- cocks at full mast through their pants -- stand on a bench and invite Antonio to start the action. He sucks them both forcefully before they form a ladder of cocksucking in which all show superb oral skills, but most particularly Vilem Cage. This unredeemed top often gives the impression of nonchalance in his approach to sex, but here he is into cock, especially when he swallows Max's sharply upturned, long, fat pole and brings him off to a truly fountain-like climax. The three move to a table where Antonio kneels, and Max slurps his hole as Vilem gets on his knees and pulls Max's cock through his cheeks and gobbles it down, taking time off to lick the balls and Max's crack. Now we're ready for a truly remarkable fuck session. Antonio goes to a wire hoop that is hanging from the ceiling, brings one foot up to be able to offer his butt to Vilem and then opens his mouth as Max stuffs his cheeks. Then Antonio puts his other leg in the hoop and they spin him around so that Max can fuck him and Vilem can feed his face. At this point the music stops and the breathing, moaning and dirty-talk take over -- but it's the pan shots that show Vilem completely entranced by Max, which give the scene the extra heat such three-ways so often lack. Antonio shows himself to be a remarkable sex-dog here, and he is hands-down the biggest pig in the flick. The two tops spin him around again, Vilem shoves his beautiful dick up the cavity again, gives it a few pumps, pulls out and covers Antonio's ass with cum as Max spurts a monster load all over Antonio's cheeks and face. They move to another bench where Vilem and Max begin to kiss passionately, only to have Antonio come in for a mouth-to-mouth-to-mouth session before he sits on Max's cock as Vilem engorges his cock, licks his body and helps Max lift him on and off his cock that eventually explodes while Vilem is still glued to Antonio's shaft. Antonio then reclines on a couch and Vilem goes back to worshipping his shaft, bringing him off in very thick, sticky gobs that Vilem washes his hands in as he licks Antonio's balls.
Outside the tent, Ivan Andros approaches the shirtless Slava and professes his lust, and is pushed away. Ivan threatens to get even. Who shows up but Max Orloff, who confesses his love and the two go inside the tent. As soon as Max comes into the scene, you imagine that this might be someone else. Surely one of the most popular hunks to emerge from the Czech Republic in the past decade, Max has lost some of his bulk, got a new more conservative "do," and looks 10 years younger -- and more Mediterranean -- than he did in his past several movies. He also seems a bit more interested in foreplay as he and Slava put on a show in the tent, kissing, licking and groping while a bitterly jealous Ivan looks on, spying and crying and stroking (well, this is a porn flick, no?). One thing about Max that hasn't changed, however, is his cock -- long, fat, straight, beautifully sculptured, eager for mouth and ass. Slava worships it on his knees as Max leans back against a pole, undulating, then bucking, then shooting a load on Slava's shoulder. Max drops to his knees and goes for Slava's pretty pecker, which has a conveniently down-turned head that Max uses to pivot his mouth and throat on. Unlike some of his other performances in which he tippy-tips the cock, this time Max goes wild (at least for him). For those who may have become a bit cynical about his persona on screen, this performance will shake you up -- it's his comeback, and may qualify for an award for best blowjob of the year. (Indeed, the cock-worship exhibited by both Max Orloff and Vilem Cage in this flick is a tribute to Kazan's motivation and direction -- a brilliant achievement.) After Slava shoots his load, he turns around and offers his ass to Max, and a few minutes later, pulls out for a no-hands cum-shot over Slava's back. Slava cums and then drops down to worship Max's honker again as Ivan, who has just spurt himself, runs off. Slava then leans Max back on the table and throws his legs in the air and sends his shaft up that beautiful, round, rarely pounded hole. Max sways to and fro and Slava pulls out, squirts another big load and Max does the same. Not a hair has been mussed on his head.
They move outside and as they kiss, Ivan shows up shoving Pietro toward them. Enraged, Pietro chases Max off, demanding that Slava tell him who the boy was, but Ivan convinces Pietro to go on with the show. We see Pietro putting on his make-up, daydreaming of the days he spent at the beach with Slava. Meanwhile, the show is beginning, and backstage, Ivan and his cohorts are taking a break from their chores to get into some action. This is what has become the obligatory Kazan orgy scene, totally unrelated to the plot, but a good opportunity to fill our eyes with some astounding flesh and action. Ivan sucks off hunky Cesar Moreno while Tiziano Cortez, a blond Kazan muscle god, is being worshipped by Antton Harri, an exceptionally handsome college-jock type who reminds me of mid-1990s porn puppy Brent Cross, but with more bulk. The foursome switch positions and partners, with Tiziano and Cesar serving as tops. Ivan and Antton are the bottoms here, and a grand one Antton proves to be. (He is destined for a more romantic setting if he, and his director, are willing.) The scene ends with a sly look between him and Ivan, a segue that you should catch to appreciate how Kazan does have a tendency to bring things full circle. Meanwhile, on stage, Pietro and Slava, who are the play's protagonists, meet and play out their destiny.
Well, okay, no tears came to my eyes, but it's a perfect ending to a perfectly marvelous movie, filled with stunning men, three of whom -- Vilem Cage, Max Orloff and Antonio Armani -- give what can only be described as star turns. Slava and Pietro are exceptional as lovers and even as actors, and Max Veneziano and Antton Harri look like absolute naturals for something in which they can be featured performers (they'd make a great older-younger pair). But the cast is really an ensemble, subtly handled and brilliantly directed by one of the most creative artists in the field. Once again, Signor Kazan: "Bravissimo!"
Rating: *** Highly, Highly Recommended ***
- Bo Champion, ManNet.com
Review 2
UNDER THE BIG TOP is another of Lucas Kazan's opera-inspired videos, this one taken from Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. As was the case in A SICILIAN TALE, love and revenge are the forces that drive the action, and again the principal players are not a triangle, but a quartet of tangled lovers.
From the prologue, we jump directly to a rocky beach, where an amorous encounter is underway between Slava Petrovich and Pietro Rosselli. Waves splash against the rocks and burst into sprays of foam as the men engage in a fierce make out session wearing their Speedos. The we cut to an interior location where the men dispense with the clothing. Their bodies are magnificent. Both there and throughout the film; I wonder if their beauty blinds everyone on the set.
Pietro plays with Slava's dick, licking in long strokes from the base of the scrotum to the tip of the glans. The he works his tongue under Slava's foreskin and only later takes the entire cock in his mouth. Slava pants breathlessly and his chest heaves as if he's about to climax, but he turns, puts his foot on a table, and offers Pietro his ass. Pietro massages Slava's buns, then works his tongue into the hole, followed by his finger and, after another long oral interlude, his cock. They fuck under a huge circus poster until they both climax, then they trade roles, and Slava fucks Pietro until both cum again.
In the next scene, Vilem Cage trains acrobats Max Veneziano, and Antonio Armani, who are stretching, tumbling, and practicing cartwheels. Vilem cannot resist copping a feel from Max and Antonio at every opportunity, until the crotches of their leotards are distended by their hardons that are straining to emerge. Antonio releases their cocks, and services them, alternating mouth on one, hand on the other. With the help of a few props, they make a cocksucking totem pole. Vilem grabs his cock and shoots, then he jerks Max to orgasm. They reconfigure into a rimming chain, with Vilem rimming Max, who rims Antonio. A trapeze suspended a foot off the ground is employed as a fucking platform, with Max and Vilem alternately face-fucking and butt-fucking Antonio as they spin him back and forth. Both Max and Vilem cum. They then resume fucking on a sofa, with Max shooting a third load, and Antonio climaxing with the oral and manual assistance of Vilem.
Ivan Andros seethes with jealous rage as he watches Slava give a blow job to Max Orloff. Slava's energy results in a long, gushy spurting climax for Max. Max returns the blow job, then fucks Slava, taking him from behind. After Max cums again, he reaches around, and jerks Slava to climax, while in the shadow, Ivan climaxes with enough spooge to float a small boat. Ivan does not hang around to see how Slava fucks Max.
An impromptu four-way is going on backstage with Ivan, Tiziano Cortese, Cesar Moreno and Antton Harri. Antton drools a lot when he sucks, and gets his face all slimed. Ivan has a spontaneous ejaculation while Cesar massages his pecs, and Tiziano also shoots. The four reconfigure, with Tiziano fucking Ivan, and Cesar fucking Antton. In all, though this is not Kazan at his best, it is too lovely to pass up.
-X FACTOR
Review 3
The veteran director, Lucas Kazan, has created the best film of his career thus far. Viewers are urged to watch and delight in this masterwork. Petrovich, Cage, and Orloff are all at the top of their form, Veneziano is a major find, and for three-quarters of the way, Kazan comes close to giving us the Greatest Show on Earth.
-Jerry Douglas, Gay Chicago
Review 4
My dread of clowns made me leery of reviewing this video, but fortunately director Lucas Kazan has gone for the sexier underbelly of the circus: there's much more of the sexier backstage stuff: the virile ring-masters, the trapeze artists and succulent strongmen and there are contortionists. Well, at least some of the fucking seems like contortionists. It's all that backstage stud-screwing that makes me wonder why I didn't run away and join the circus when I had a chance.
-V.C. Rand, HONCHO
Review 5
This movie is incredibly beautiful from start to finish, stunningly let and technically flawless. The sex, throughout, is not only beautiful but hot. Don't miss it. Rating: four stars
-ADAM GAY VIDEO DIRECTORY