Safari City (DVD) Cadinot!

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

Yes, the French do have a word for it. Actually, an expression, "La Ronde," the title of a French classic, which in simplest terms (and, nothing is simple with the French) means "what goes around comes around." In male porn movies, the best example of the concept of "la ronde" was probably J. Brian's "First Time Around," a 1970s scorcher that pits one character from each scene against a new one in the next.

The great French porn director Jean-Daniel Cadinot doesn't quite go with the whole la ronde concept in "Safari City," but it is close enough to use as a comparison -- and it is certainly as hot, if not hotter, than the J. Brian classic. Part of the reason is that this 11-scene (yes, 11!) tour-de-force features two spectacularly endowed, beautiful and totally contrasting men -- Frank Forest and Jerome Galfion, who fuck in the first scene and then appear in almost every one of the rest, with other men. I could not, for the life of me, tell you what the title "Safari City" is supposed to mean, unless Cadinot has used the wanderings of Frank and Jerome through various Parisian milieus as a metaphor for a trek in the sexual wilderness. But I will attest, dear readers, that this is a wild, wild ride through the underbrush -- but there's no need to bring the big guns. These guys have brought some huge bazookas of their own.

Frank is a tall, very handsome Anthony Perkins-type guy with the build of a cross-country runner (long legs, strong, lanky shoulders), who is shopping for silky runner shorts in an outdoor market in Paris. He finds a couple and goes into the three-sided cabana dressing room where Jerome, a deeply tanned, somewhat shorter, beauty is trying on designer stuff. Jerome reminds me of American porn star Tanner Hayes, cute yet devastatingly handsome at the same time, even down to his humongous cock and his very hairy legs. Immediately, he starts to cruise Frank, and before long they are kissing, stripping, sucking and fucking all over the six-by-six cabana, while, presumably, other shoppers are strolling by. (The crowd sounds are marvelous here, babies crying, vendors hawking. You almost believe it.) This is as intense, and quiet, a fuck scene as you are likely to see between two strangers, and includes a shot of Jerome getting fucked doggy-style with one leg over a clothes rack so that Frank's massive cock can get all the way up his hole. The attraction here is palpable, the lust very real -- and the cum-shots spectacular. These two animals have been turned loose.

Frank buys his shorts, gets in his car and drives to the local soccer grounds where he takes his jeans off and slips into his silkies without a jock. He meets up with two cuties -- the blond twinkish Anton Elsinski (who resembles Randy Harrison of the U.S. version of "Queer As Folk"), and Ruan del Montes, a deceptively handsome little black-haired bugger whose orange silk shorts become a signpost throughout the movie for keeping characters straight. Anton is not French, and doesn't speak it well, but after Frank and Ruan exchange some words, Anton asks, in perfectly accented English, what Frank wants. "He wants to fuck with us," says Ruan, to which Anton replies: "It's okay. Good, then, let's go." And, guy, do they let themselves go, in a glen on the hood of Frank's car. This is a frenetic suck and fuckfest, with each of the guys displaying exceptional oral skills, and both Ruan and Frank taking full advantage of Anton's magnificent pucker. Ruan fucks Anton missionary on the hood while Frank first 69s with Anton, then pulls Ruan's cock out of Anton's hole for some gobble work until all three cum in great spurts all over Anton's chest. Then, Anton gets plowed again before the scene ends.

The rest of the movie follows along in a similar pattern until we get to the final scene. We follow Frank and Jerome on separate journeys, through the cruising areas around fields and dumps, as well as occasional retail establishments. Here are the highlights, in order:

Zachari Brovnik, an Eastern European hunk in the vein of Jirka Kalvoda (or, Ales Hanek), meets up with tough-looking Fabian in the woods and asks to borrow his bike. He goes off on a little ride, and Jerome shows up (you might take a minute or two to recognize him). The ensuing three-way is a scorcher with both Jerome and Fabian acting as bottoms, for each other and the insatiable Zachari. One segment has Jerome fucking Fabian in a sidesaddle-sit position while sucking Zachari -- and then Fabian bends over and double-sucks Zachari with Jerome. There is a great three-way sploogefest which ends the scene.

Orange shorts Ruan is back in the next scene, putting the move on the slightly fey punk Julian Chamfray on the cruising grounds while Frank, who fitfully paces back and forth like a frustrated tiger, watches nearby. Ruan and Julian suck and fuck on a picnic table in a short, but very hot, flip-flop -- Julian actually fucks the cum out of Ruan in a missionary-fuck.

Frustrated Frank sidles up to a park pissoir where the very Russian looking Maxime is already parked, in paint-covered overalls and a hard hat. They grope and kiss, and decide to go to Maxime's apartment, where the most fully realized love scene of the flick takes place. A warning here to those who expect linear exposition of sex scenes -- Cadinot employs many edits so that while one is sucking the other, the segue can be anything from a natural 69 to a full doggy-fuck. But it's not jarring at all. In this scene, Maxime clearly adores Frank's beautiful cock, but Frank seems mesmerized by the exotic Maxime's gentle lovemaking, and, indeed, there is a fleeting shot of what looks like a brief doggy-fuck by Maxime of Frank's tender-but-unused-so-far pucker. No matter, it's Frank who is once again on top ... my goodness, this guy knows how to plow. This is a wonderfully hot pairing.

Meanwhile, Jerome is on the prowl again, this time at the local supermarket, where the tall, hard-bodied, gorgeous black clerk Calvin Donatello asks if he can help -- which he does, indeed, in the storage room. There, Jerome takes full charge of the sausage between Calvin's exquisite thighs, chomping and kissing and licking the tool, melting into kisses before Calvin takes charge of Jerome's huge cock, then lays him down, rims his ass and fucks him doggy-style. Quick edits and tons of cum are their rewards, with Jerome getting a free piece of fruit as well.

Fabian is back on his bike, cruising the lanky in-line skater Christian Galliac. They go off and find Julian, who is obviously rested from his fuck with Ruan. The three go off to Maxime's apartment, where Fabian asks if he can leave so the three of them can fuck. Maxime is a perfect host. While he's out, he runs into Frank, who obviously wants to do it again, but Maxime explains the three-way going on at his place. Lightbulb goes off in Frank's crotch, and he goes to see what's up. The ensuing four-way is frenetic, but the weak point of the movie.

Jerome, meanwhile, is still wandering around, this time appearing at a local carnival where he jumps into the bumper cars. The guy in charge is the extraordinarily hot, muscled-up Fernando Leone, who looks just like his name sounds. This Latino bronco buster cruises Jerome, and leads him through the back alleys of the carnival to his trailer, "this is my home," he says, as they start to get to know each other with kisses and groping. Though there is an exceptional amount of instantaneous and ongoing heat in this scene between the two, the action is all one-way -- Jerome does all the sucking and gets fucked in several positions (a wonderful shot of a standing doggy-fuck from beneath shows how crowded the small trailer is, but how easy it is to fuck in). Startling here is the contrast in skin tones -- Jerome has a great tan line, accentuated as the flick goes on by more and more sun; Fernando, whose own skin is a shade paler than Jerome's tan, has, however, a long, very fat, nearly black cock, which Jerome can't seem to get enough of. He proves it by cumming while being sit-fucked with the single largest explosion of the film, brilliantly bright white cream all over Fernando's pecs, nipples, neck and face. He licks his own cum off Fernando as the carnival guy brings himself to a stunning climax, and then Jerome slips his cum-touched lips and tongue onto Fernando's lips. The ending to this scene is a classic -- I won't spoil it.

Frank, meanwhile, is still hanging out in the cruising grounds, and this time he decides to move in on one of Ruan's prey -- the sweet looking, early preppy Sylvain de Prat, a blond kid who goes back to what appears to be Frank's pretty stylish digs for a quick blowjob and a series of seriously hard fucks on a couch and over the bathroom sink.

Now, believe it or not, it's time for Frank to go to work, which is in a shoe store. He approaches a customer, the exotic looking Antony Boyer, who seems to be having trouble picking out sneakers. Frank goes to the storeroom where he meets up with stock guy David Richer -- a very sexy beast who bears a bit of a resemblance to American porn chippie Clint Fox. Well, damn it, if they don't start to kiss and suck cock before Frank goes back out to Antony with another pair of sneakers. He goes back to continue with David, and Antony, left at the shoe stool, gets up and follows. A hot time in the storeroom follows, highlighted by Antony being missionary-fucked on a table by David, whose own adorable butt is being opened wide by the massive thrusts of Frank's cock.

Finally, on another trip into the cruising grounds, Frank meets up with Ruan, who immediately accuses him of stealing his tricks. They shove each other around until Frank dumps Ruan into a particularly nasty looking pool of green slime, and they come to some kind of an understanding -- which is to go to Ruan's place. Now, I don't follow French all that well, but when they get there, I think Frank notes there is only a couch and no bed; Ruan, I believe, says that's all they'll need, and, indeed, he's right. This scene, while not that long, is what I call "relaxed furtive" -- these two have been after each other for a while and it looks as though they have finally found someone who is compatible. Their physical types are opposite, but they still are an attractive couple, especially in the 69, doggy and missionary positions. In this scene, Frank takes it up the ass from the wily Ruan, wrapping his legs around the smaller guy -- yes sir, there is plenty of room on the couch for this fuck. They cum, kiss, and "et voila!" we have touchdown.

"Safari City" is an absolute triumph. Attention is paid to detail every step of the way, yet you never notice it -- except on second viewing (check out how perfect the soundtrack is, sometimes techno or mood music, sometimes human clatter, sometimes lovemaking sounds). Except for a few lines, all the dialogue is in French, with no subtitles; however, even though there is a good amount of chatter here and there, you will clearly understand exactly what is going on, which is the hallmark of a great director working in international waters. And in Cadinot, we are talking about one of the true greats. He apparently has decided to aggressively expand his marketing efforts with many new titles available in North America. Thank goodness for this -- we have an icon on our hands, and he leaves us with sticky stuff on our fingers. Whatever in the hell more could we possibly want?

A Video Review by Bo Champion [ http://www.ManNet.com ]

*** Highly, Highly Recommended ***

Starring Christian Gaillac, Frank Forest, Maxime Pavlov, Fabian Nexman, Jerome Galfion, Calwin Donatello, Zachari Brovnik, Ruan Del Montes, Anton Elsinski, Sylvain De Prat, David Richer, Antony Boyer and Fernando Leone.

Directed by Jean-Daniel Cadinot.

DVD features include Interactive Menus; Chapter Index; Jump to Your Favorite Scenes; DVD-ROM Compatible; No Regional Coding for World Wide Playback.

A YMAC/Cadinot DVD.