La journaliste

Unlike more recent Marc Dorcel videos that have veered perilously towards the gonzo end of the porn spectrum, THE JOURNALIST could serve as a template for how to create a 21st Century porn feature that pays attention to all the key elements of a quality product.

It has well-staged, arousing sex scenes that do not overstay their welcome or merely follow by-the-numbers execution of popular sex acts; a large cast of beautiful women mixing stars with less familiar talent; an interesting storyline that also comments on sexual issues and has some satirical humor; and it crucially provides the glamour and top-notch production values that are the Dorcel house trademark.

Anna Polina, the #1 actress in Dorcel's stable, takes the title role as Anna Bergen, working for a French satellite news channel which is not sleazy or unscrupulous like our execrable TMZ, but shares that outlet's dedication to muckraking. Her boss is played in a cameo by Marc Dorcel himself, and her sidekick in a non-sex role for a change (very well acted in wise-cracking manner) is Nina Roberts as camerawoman.

Stealing the spotlight from these two ladies is Czech actress Denisa Heaven, who provides some of the video's best erotic content as a wife (or "hotwife" in the terminology of American pornographer Jacky St. James) who humps other men at her decadent husband's behest. She opens the film in a memorably designed rear hand-held tracking shot leading us into a swingers' party, tiny video camera trained on her corseted posterior winding its way through the 3-ring circus action. Later she is in a parking garage at a male "slave auction" orchestrated by guest star Phil Hollyday, where she humps the man of her choice slung over a Mercedes.

Significantly, in that scene Polina gives Hollyday a blow job in exchange for information to help her complete her story on private "soirees", as the swing clubs are known. Her having to "get down" to complete her journalistic tasks was a functional and pointed bit of content that helps give LA JOURNALISTE some depth. Also significant are her interviews with presumably real-life people on the scene, including a club operator named Yann, a fatuous self-proclaimed "metrosexual" (I listened to the English-dubbed track, and a lot is lost in translation) who demonstrates badly his sort of psychic sex approach, plus a wonderful Maitresse Morrigan.

In perhaps the video's most striking sequence, Ms. Morrigan, a pale mature beauty dolled up in fancy dress patent leather outfit which is nearly identical to those worn iconically by Nina Hartley in her hubby Ernest Greene's "O" trilogy, turns an interview with Polina into a domination session, even strapping our heroine to a huge wooden wheel to spin her around (like a target at a carny knife- throwing exhibit) and molest her mildly.

Central plot device works very well, and even sets up a sudden surprise ending. Heaven is humping Horst Baron in the opening brothel scene, and he turns out to be Polina's philandering husband. As usual in a Dorcel opus, Horst gets his rocks off repeatedly -he's probably the label's top bad guy.

Another set-piece guest stars Jean-Pierre Tagliaferri as a sleazy club owner, with Daria Glower cast as a blonde hotwife who has a threesome for all to see involving Ian Scott, who nowadays has changed his porn name to Yanick Shaft merely to confuse me. Also confusing is Nina Roberts 3rd billing, but in lengthy end credits an extra named "Nina Robert" is also credited -can't be correct.

Quality exterior locations and lavish interior settings are well-captured by directors Pascal Lucas (nicknamed Luka -not sure if he's the same as a credited "Luka" in other Dorcel videos) and teammate John Waxxx, but the decision to go with modern, tiny video cameras does detract visually for Golden Age porn fans like me. The finale orgy is pretty amazing, as half a dozen blow jobs are taking place simultaneously, including Polina servicing newcomer Vince Carter (no, not the basketball star but a white boy), while several huge breasted women led by the incomparable Clanddi Jinkcego provide more than just eye candy.