Zazel
Encyclopedia
Zazel: The Scent of Love is a highly regarded American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 hardcore pornographic
Hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...

 film, photographed in October 1995 and released the following year. The film was produced by Cal Vista Studios—reportedly made at a cost of $237,000—and was directed by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 erotic photographer and filmmaker Philip Mond, who also did the camera work and designed the costumes and special make-up. It was Mond's second hardcore adult feature after Sex Off the Runway—and like his previous film, Zazel also featured a bevy of Penthouse Pets, including 1994 Pet of the Year Sasha Vinni, 1995 Pet of the Year Gina LaMarca
Gina LaMarca
Gina LaMarca is an American adult model and erotic actress.LaMarca was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was chosen as Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month in May 1993 and later as Pet of the Year in 1995. In the mid-1990s, she made the move from magazine pages to adult videos...

, and 1999 Pet of the Year Nikie St. Gilles.

The film included visually elaborate set pieces; extravagant costuming, make-up and body painting
Body painting
Body painting, or sometimes bodypainting, is a form of body art. Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the human skin, and lasts for only several hours, or at most a couple of weeks. Body painting that is limited to the face is known as face painting...

; and expensive filming techniques such as underwater photography
Underwater photography
Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while snorkeling or swimming.-Overview:...

 not normally seen in pornographic films.

Cast in order of appearance

Sasha Vinni - Zazel/Blue Siren/Tiger/Brunette Musketeer/Female Angel/Mermaid
Grace Harlow - Water Nymph
Lene Hefner - Tattooed Girl
Devin Deray - Tattoo Artist
Anna Romero - Redhead Musketeer/Body Double for Female Angel/She-Devil
Brooke Lane - Blonde Musketeer/Female Angel
Antonio Valentino - Winged Male Angel
Helena - Female Angel
Gina LaMarca
Gina LaMarca
Gina LaMarca is an American adult model and erotic actress.LaMarca was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was chosen as Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month in May 1993 and later as Pet of the Year in 1995. In the mid-1990s, she made the move from magazine pages to adult videos...

- Seductress
Jon Severini - Man
Nikie St. Gilles - Blonde Beauty Mermaid
Kevin James - Gargoyle/Body Double for Winged Male Angel
Drew Reese - Demon Man

Plot

"Zazel" is the title character, a world-famous artist commissioned to create "the most arousing perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...

 ever". In the course of devising this scent, Zazel variously paints
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 pictures, views photographs, and wanders among the flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s of her garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

, each experience inspiring her to envision a powerful sexual fantasy. The film consists of nearly a dozen individually themed sequences which reference and recreate iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

 drawn from mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 and even Jungian psychology. These include siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...

s, water nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...

s, mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...

s, flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s, the jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...

, The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...

, classic old Hollywood movies, angels and demons, and the Jungian duality
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...

 of male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...

 and female
Female
Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

.

Each sequence features an imaginative and novel treatment of sexual activity based on these said themes, as well as several visual/anatomical puns achieved through the strategic use of body paint, fetishistic costumes and accessories, and trompe l'oeil
Trompe l'oeil
Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.-History in painting:Although the phrase has its origin in...

camera placement and editing trickery. It is notable that Sasha Vinni, who plays Zazel and also narrates the film, never has heterosexual intercourse in any of her scenes: she simply masturbates and engages in lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 activities with the other female performers.

"Blue Siren" sequence

In the opening sequence, Sasha Vinni emerges from a pond as the "Blue Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...

", her nude body is painted bright blue and multiple arms appear and gesticulate behind her like the Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....

 of the Hindu god
Hindu deities
Within Hinduism a large number of personal gods are worshipped as murtis. These beings are either aspects of the supreme Brahman, Avatars of the supreme being, or significantly powerful entities known as devas. The exact nature of belief in regards to each deity varies between differing Hindu...

 Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

. She then performs cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...

 on the "Water Nymph" (Grace Harlow).

"Wild Orchid" sequence

Sasha Vinni as Zazel sits at her desk and airbrush
Airbrush
An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that sprays various media including ink and dye, but most often paint by a process of nebulization. Spray guns developed from the airbrush and are still considered a type of airbrush.-History:...

es an image of a flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

. A visual pun
Visual pun
A visual pun is a pun involving an image or images .Visual puns in which the image is at odds with the inscription are common in Dutch gable stones as well as in cartoons such as Lost Consonants or The Far Side...

 is created as the petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...

s start to move and contract and reveal themselves as artfully painted labial folds.

"Bird of Paradise" sequence

Sasha Vinni appears as an assistant to a male lover/tattoo artist
Tattoo artist
A tattoo artist is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a tattoo shop, tattoo studio or tattoo parlour...

 played by Devin Deray. Sasha Vinni shaves Lene Hefner's crotch
Groin
In human anatomy, the groin areas are the two creases at the junction of the torso with the legs, on either side of the pubic area. This is also known as the medial compartment of the thigh. A pulled groin muscle usually refers to a painful injury sustained by straining the hip adductor muscles...

 with a spa razor, rinses it with an urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...

 full of water. The tattoo artist then designs a colorful flower pattern on Hefner's vulva
Vulva
The vulva consists of the external genital organs of the female mammal. This article deals with the vulva of the human being, although the structures are similar for other mammals....

. The trio then engage in sex.

"Jungle" sequence

In the "Jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...

" sequence, Sasha Vinni's nude body is artfully painted with tiger stripes as she writhes and crawls through tropical vegetation.

The scene ends with a close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...

 shot of a woman (whose face is never seen) with a tiger's face painted on her buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...

. The woman rides a man's penis
Penis
The penis is a biological feature of male animals including both vertebrates and invertebrates...

, creating the illusion that the tiger's face is "fellating
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...

" him.

"Precious Flower" sequence

This is sequence is yet another variation on the flower motif as Sasha Vinni is shown penetrating herself with flower-shaped objects and masturbating
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...

.

"Three Musketeers" sequence

In the "Three Musketeers" sequence, Sasha Vinni, Brooke Lane and Anna Romero appear in 17th-century-style period costume based on the characters of the Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, père
Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...

 novel. They strip, kiss
French kiss
A French kiss is a kiss in which one participant's tongue touches the partner's lips or tongue and usually enters his or her mouth. A French kiss is a slow passionate kiss which is usually considered intimate, romantic, erotic or sexual...

, perform cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...

 on one another, and masturbate by penetrating themselves with rubber dildo
Dildo
A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for bodily penetration during masturbation or sex with partners.- Description and uses :...

es which they have outfitted on the back of their riding boot
Riding boot
A riding boot is a boot made to be used for horse riding. The classic boot comes high enough up the leg to prevent the leathers of the saddle from pinching the leg of the rider, has a sturdy toe to protect the rider's foot when on the ground, and has a distinct heel to prevent the foot from sliding...

s like spur
Spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids and to back up the natural aids . The spur is used in every equestrian discipline...

s.

"Angels" sequence

The "Angels" sequence is filmed in bright, diffuse light and features three women (Sasha Vinni, Brooke Lane and Helena) as "Female Angels", each with elaborately knotted hair and coated in pale, peach-colored body paint. These three female angels perform various sexual acts with a similarly painted man outfitted with giant angel's wings (Antonio Valentino)—the "Winged Male Angel". (Anna Romero and Kevin James served as body double
Body double
A body double is a general term for someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character in any recorded visual medium, in shots where the character's body is shown but the face is either not visible or shown indistinctly, or in shots where the image of the credited actor's face is joined,...

s.)

"Old Black-and-White Movie" sequence

The black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...

 sequence is the only one to feature no lesbian sex at all, and it is also the only part of the film in which Sasha Vinni does not appear. It begins with Gina LaMarca as "the Seductress", wearing ornate white pasties
Pasties
Pasties are adhesive coverings applied to cover a woman's nipples and areolae. Though pasties are commonly associated with burlesque and erotic entertainment, they are also at times worn as an undergarment and occasionally as beachwear.Some women wear pasties when wearing a strapless or backless...

 over her breasts with a matching white crotch guard (see main DVD cover above), gyrating on a bed.

The fetish accessories are soon removed and she and her male partner (Jon Severini) engage in various sexual activities. Cross-cutting from the man's final ejaculation
Cum shot
A cum shot, cumshot, come shot, pop shot, or money shot are slang terms used to describe a person ejaculating , usually onto a person or object. It is typically used by the cinematographer within the narrative framework of a pornographic film, and since the 1970s has become a leitmotif of the...

 on her belly, they are also seen performing a tumbling dive into a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

 while holding hands and then resurfacing to embrace and cuddle in the water.

"Mysterious Union" sequence

Sasha Vinni performs a sensuous erotic dance with one half of her face and body painted and dressed as a woman in a skirt, and the other half made up as a mustachioed man wearing a suit. Vinni takes turns showing her "female" and then "male" side to the camera while the other half remains hidden in shadow and out of view. The sequence concludes with an outlandish-looking woman—shaven-headed except for a teased-up lemon blonde
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...

 mohawk
Mohawk hairstyle
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair...

 (which might be a wig) and with spangled clothespins fastened to her nipple
Nipple
In its most general form, a nipple is a structure from which a fluid emanates. More specifically, it is the projection on the breasts or udder of a mammal by which breast milk is delivered to a mother's young. In this sense, it is often called a teat, especially when referring to non-humans, and...

s—who is seen to be fellating
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...

 an ornate glass perfume bottle.

"Water Odyssey" sequence

In the penultimate sequence in the film, Sasha Vinni and Nikie St. Gilles appear as mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...

s outfitted with tail fins. They dispense with the mermaid accessories and engage in lesbian activities. As in the "Blue Siren" sequence, some of the cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the female's clitoris, vulva, or vagina...

 activity is filmed underwater.

"Diablo d'Inferno" sequence

The "Diablo d'Inferno" sequence features Anna Romero as a "She-Devil" in a fetishistic red latex
Latex
Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

 devil's costume—outfitted with red latex horns, red latex ballet boots, open-bottomed red latex hot pants, and a long red latex forked devil's tail protruding from a red flared dildo
Dildo
A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for bodily penetration during masturbation or sex with partners.- Description and uses :...

 attachment that is embedded in her rectum
Rectum
The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...

. (Although Sasha Vinni appears in this costume on the U.S. video cover [see above], only Anna Romero wears it in the film.) During this sequence the lower portion of the screen is filled with digitally superimposed flames for atmospheric effect.

The She-Devil sneaks up behind Zazel, who is sitting at a table airbrush
Airbrush
An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that sprays various media including ink and dye, but most often paint by a process of nebulization. Spray guns developed from the airbrush and are still considered a type of airbrush.-History:...

ing a design of the She-Devil and her costume, and "decapitates" the artist with a scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...

. The She-Devil crawls around Zazel's freshly "severed" head, now placed upon the table. The She-Devil thrusts her vulva
Vulva
The vulva consists of the external genital organs of the female mammal. This article deals with the vulva of the human being, although the structures are similar for other mammals....

 into Zazel's face.

The scene continues with the She-Devil (now without the tail-dildo) having sex with a "Gargoyle" (Kevin James) and a "Demon Man" (Drew Reese), which ends with a vaginal/anal double penetration.

2008 DVD and Blu-ray re-release

In 2008, Cal Vista re-released Zazel on DVD in a re-mastered high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...

 widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....

 two-disc edition; a blu-ray edition followed soon after. The bonus features included a deleted scene as well as a preview of Zazel 2.

Awards

  • Listed as "26th" in "The 101 Greatest Adult Tapes Of All Time" by AVN Magazine
    AVN (magazine)
    Adult Video News is an American trade journal that covers the adult video industry. The New York Times notes that AVN is to pornographic films what Billboard is to records...

    .
  • Winner - Seven AVN Awards (1998):
    • Best All-Sex Film
    • Best Group Scene
    • Best Cinematography
    • Best Art Direction
    • Best Editing
    • Best Overall Marketing Campaign
    • Best Selling Tape of the Year
  • Winner - AVN Award (2009):
    • Best Classic Release (Two-Disc DVD: HD Widescreen
      Widescreen
      Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....

       Re-Mastered)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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