CORPI NUDI, which I had the privilege of watching dubbed into Spanish, is a mixed bag of Italian porn that at times nearly resembles a real film, but frequently lapses into porn for porn's sake. It is convincing evidence that Amasi Damiani is an untalented filmmaker.
Gianni Dei, sort of Italy's answer to David Thewlis, toplines as a wheelchair-ridden photographer who spends the movie feeling sorry for himself. His beautiful girl Rosy Navarro takes care of him, but they have an implicit understanding that she can do her thing, and he will spend almost every waking hour watching his collection of XXX stag films on his 16mm projector (this film was made before VHS and Beta had truly taken over -for the moment- the marketplace).
What makes the film strange is its format and content, somewhat different from the porn of its era. Typically, a soft porn film would be "spiced up" by the introduction of stag footage, as this one seems to be in the opening reels. A dichotomy is established between the principal photography and the inserts, soft vs. hard; most obvious historical example is Tinto Brass's CALIGULA vs. the hardcore insert footage from producer Bob Guccione and his helper Giancarlo Lui.
So I was lulled into complacency by tons of XXX loop material which I took to be French in origin, due to the presence of French star Gabriel Pontello, most recognizable figure amongst the archive players. But suddenly halfway through the picture lovely leading lady Rosy, who we had seen previously fully nude but in softcore situations, starts giving a friend a blow job in completely explicit closeups. She later has intercourse, and even her best gal pal (Guia Filzi Lauri) fingers her and does a cunnilingus routine that is way over the line into XXX territory.
Overall, the film is extremely morbid, as the hero appears to be a masochist or at least loves to be humiliated. The rest of the cast doesn't make fun of his infirmity in the wheelchair, but treats him like he isn't there, making love in front of him while he can only close his eyes or perversely watch. Film's end is truly downbeat, as Rosy runs off with their mutual male buddy, leaving Dei to just sit there re-running Pontello's greatest hits.
It's well photographed and approaches real filmmaking with a terrific guest appearance by the lovely Marisa Mell, Dei's dream girl. He imagines himself still mobile on two strong legs, getting her to pose for him as a photographer. Mell does a softcore sex scene with him, stealing the film with her sensual presence, playing herself.
Rosy's non-career is a testament to the dead-end of porn, then as now. She is an appealing (though on the short side) young actress here, and I was frankly shocked to see her go "all the way" for a few lira. Ironically, I would have preferred this film had it been compartmentalized, with the pros like Pontello handling the in & out stuff, and the real thesps doing the dramatic scenes.
