Nina Hartley's Guide To Sensual Submission #1

Adam & Eve

Genre: Educational, S&M

Director: Ernest Greene

Cast: Nina Hartley, Amber Michaels, Sean Michaels, Frank Fortuna

Length: 80.5 minutes

Date of Production: 6/30/03

Extra's: 20.5 minutes of Behind the Scenes footage (I thought it was funny that Frank wore a Wicked Pictures shirt and Amber goofed on it), photogallery, cast pictures, list of other titles in Nina's series

Audio/Video Quality: The picture was presented in the industry standard 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. There was a fair amount of grain and the lighting was not optimal which also caused the picture to have some color issues. There were also artifacts and what appeared to be drop-outs (from the master source tape no doubt). The audio was presented in monaural and was, like a number of releases in Nina's series, too low at times. Otherwise, the sound wasn't bad.

Body of Review: Nina Hartley is one of the most knowledgeable sex experts in the adult industry, having earned a degree in nursing many years ago and participated in hundreds of adult videos over the last twenty years. In short, her credentials are impeccable to lead a series of discussions on sexual education so Adam & Eve commissioned a series of movies where Nina could explain a variety of practices for those of us that don't have access to all that porn has to offer in our personal lives (other than watching it on our televisions). In the latest release of the series, Nina Hartley's Guide To Sensual Submission #1, Nina takes the time to show women (and men) that domination isn't just about whips and chains, nor does it require the heavy role playing that tends to be the focus of such discussions. Using a few performers to demonstrate what she lectures on, Nina herself participates in what amounts to a primer of female submissiveness. Nina comments that this is not an all-inclusive look at the subject so much as a means to facilitate discussion and open up a few ideas to couples that have less experience with the subject and with that, here's a quick breakdown of the scenes by cast:

Scene One: Nina started off the show by giving some background to the audience about the concept of role playing and reasons for relinquishing control to another adult for pleasure. Using Amber as her model, she explained some of the ideas in detail in order to set up the later sketches.

Scene Two: Nina, this time as the submissive, took care of dominant Sean, initially by orally pleasing him and then by allowing him to do as he pleased to her. He returned the oral pleasure and then the two had vaginal intercourse before he anally took her. The premise of exploring a woman's desire to submit was driven home more than a few times here.

Scene Three: Amber, looking ready and willing, allowed Frank to demonstrate in a luxury suite how he liked to take charge. After some light taps with his riding crop, he chained her to a post for some flogging. While doing so, he teased her a bit orally and then forced her to blow him. Later, she was placed in a sex swing and he took her anally as well.

Summary: This was not the strongest release in the long running series but it may help couples that are a bit shy about bringing up the subject at the dinner table. Submissiveness doesn't have to mean that no limits are in place just as it doesn't mean that the partners don't respect one another-it's just a means of sexual playfulness that consenting couples can enjoy. I hope that future releases work on the technical issues more since the lighting caused way too many problems here. If you're a fan of Nina's, as so many people are, you may like seeing her in action after the lecture so I'm going to rate this as a Rent It.