A semi-academic review of Nica Noelle’s “My Sister Celine” (Sweetheart Video, 2012)
I approached “My Sister Celine” with some caution: for the past couple of weeks I have been dealing with the topic of incest and family related issues being overly explored in the adult film industry, and I am tired of it, to be honest. But Noelle hints at the very title that this is not the usual incest fantasy movie: it is actually Liam (well played by Richie) who is introducing the film to the audience: Celine is his sister, it is her we have to follow.
Like in all Nica Noelle’s movies, technical aspects which would normally go unnoticed by the public are impeccable. There is obvious attention being paid to features of film making in a way only Noelle is able to pull: the setting is flawless, dialogs are delivered in a spontaneous manner, and the incidental music is precise and descriptive of the scene it is covering, even though in some moments it disappears when it could go on playing – in some transitional fade outs and in Sovereign Syre and Jasmine Jem’s first scene, for example. Camera wise, Noelle is able to innovate once again by filming with cameras which are more static than normally one would find in a contemporary adult movie and, yet, her film is more dynamic than the vast majority out there.
The plot is round, and although it lacks some tying (such as the sudden disappearance of Dylan Ryan, Katie St. Ives, and Kate Kastle, for instance), it is an accurate portrait of a family which fosters a “problematic” adult, with both the mother (Veronica Hart, who delivers the most sublime interpretation in the film) and the brother coming to constantly justify any odd aspects of the “problem” child. At certain moments, the camera even seems to partake in their embarrassment, moving from one face to another as our eyes would do in such situation. Hart’s constant reassurance to Julia that Celine is a good person makes explicit her awareness that there is something extremely “wrong” with her daughter, an aspect which must be turned into mere “eccentricity” not to scare the future daughter in law away. Liam seems naïve, oblivious, “dependable”, as Celine herself poses: however, we can trust him when he points out the movie is not about his fiancée, but about his sister.
Jasmine Jem’s character is shy, fragile, distant, cold. From the very beginning of the movie we notice a certain instability in her, as if she was recovering from something. It is exactly this frailty in Julia that generates such extreme contrast to Sovereign Syre’s Celine, who seems to be solid, centered, and who dominates the camera from the first time she appears. Mystery, danger, madness, seduction: Sovereign’s gaze corner Julia without subjugating her but, rather, carrying a defiant tone which is going to appear in the garden scene (one of the most erotic scenes of the movie) and be sustained throughout the party hosted later that night.
Although at first the transition from the garden to a bedroom made me feel uncomfortable, in what I consider to be one of the boldest moments of her career, Noelle films the first sex scene in this movie in a two-dimensional setting: Dylan Ryan and Sovereign Syre have an intimate, less cinematographic, much more realistic sexual encounter on a single bed propped against a wall. The impossibility of getting the amount of different angles a centered bed would provide is made redundant by the positioning of three cameras which capture brilliant frames, perfectly balanced zooms, textures, flavors: for we are able to even forgive a less active Syre (when compared to the masterly Dylan Ryan) so dynamic is the cinematography in this scene. The only aspect I do not like is the amount of light over the performers, something which is redeemed later by an exquisite lighting throughout the rest of the movie, mainly in the scenes with Katsuni and Sinn Sage (an award winning scene by itself, definitely solidifying them as two of the most important performers in the business nowadays) and Jasmine Jem and Sovereign Syre.
The atmosphere created during the party evokes a certain late 70s/early 80s era which goes together with the role the party plays in Julia’s storyline: to expose her to new sexual situations. Katie St. Ives and Kate Kastle appear briefly to please our eyes with one of the most delicious kisses on screen, but disappear short after, being given only brief seconds in the middle of Katsuni and Sage’s scene. I do understand that to avert the cameras from Katsuni and Sinn Sage would be outrageous, but it could have been done in a way that allowed the viewer to have as background the other participants at the party, either watching or engaged on activities themselves. At first, it seemed to me this was the intention: however, it soon was dropped, and St. Ives and Kastle simply vanish in midair, leaving me wondering why their scene did not continue.
Sovereign Syre has such intensity in her that watching her is like we have never watched her before, while always having watched her. She is dubious, dangerous, seductive, deadly gorgeous, and terrifying, when she needs to be. Her finals scenes are excruciatingly beautiful and beautifully painful, and when the camera leaves Jasmine Jem standing still in the kitchen we are all feeling as lost as she is.
“My Sister Celine” can become a classic like other films with unsimulated sex scenes – such as Baise-Moi (2000), Intimacy (2001), and 9 Songs (2004). It is groundbreaking because it does so leaving no doubt its intention revolves around pornography, whilst not relegating plot to a second position. Yes, there are flaws. Yes, there are untied knots. But it compensates by being interesting, well filmed, visually appealing. If I did not know how, I could learn lesbian sex with Nica Noelle’s “My Sister Celine”. For me, however, it is still a great lesson on film making, and on how to end a partnership on g/g features in the most superb and glorifying way.
- Published February 23, 2012