Anal Renaissance

British director Kenneth Docherty (aka Kendo) dusts off the white powdered wigs and fancy dress costumes of a bygone era for "Anal Renaissance" an unsung and forgotten minor classic of his fetish era, before he graduated to big budgets and pretentious camera-work/editing.

For me it was a revelation: clear, bright visuals nearly devoid of the artificial gimmickry that has ruined many a more recent Kendo effort. The five sex scenes, only one of which uses dialog, portray beauties (each with a well-placed Arlene Dahl beauty mark on her cheek) and studs dressed in aristocratic garb, suitable for a French Court of the 18th or 17th Century. Even the undergarments are carefully chosen for an authentic look, and the settings as backdrops for sex are colorful (one red and pink room is particularly outstanding) rather than the dour, color-drained affectation of dozens of Kendo shows made in the following decade.

The emphasis is on anal sex, per the title, and talented Euro Porn stars like Claudia Rossi and Cory Everson deliver skilfully. My favorite was Julie Silver, whose effortless deep throat technique on Ian Tate is a joy to behold.

No story or narrative here, merely Ken demonstrating how he made "Kendo" into a porn brand name with stylish fetish content -not on a par with say Andrew Blake in achieving lasting renown, but still achieving niche status. I have been highly critical of his subsequent pretentiousness, because pure fetish is all he can really do, not being capable of a transition to George Cukor-esque directing of acting performances.