Netflix series: Series “Supersex”: The Italian stallion strikes

Rocco Tano (later Rocco Siffredi) was actually supposed to become a priest, but he decided to pursue a career as an Italian porn star. The seven-part series “Supersex,” produced for Netflix and shown at this year’s Berlinale, is loosely inspired by Siffredi’s real life and focuses on a son who seemingly sought his mother’s love through an insatiable desire for sex with others. Submissive women, mafiosi and humping men complete the picture in this retrograde series.

Right from the start, “Supersex” uses every cliché: Rocco (Alessandro Borghi), the “king of porn,” has a press appearance at an erotic fair in Paris (the “Biennale of Sex”), he sleeps on the toilet with a hostess, Through the toilet window, cheering fans and the press watch as he thrusts from behind. He previously announced his retirement on stage.

The series then jumps back to Rocco’s childhood in the 70s in Ortona, Italy, when Rocco, as an unfortunate boy, comes across a “super sex” comic. The hero in it is the ultimate sex god. The fact that the loving gaze of Rocco’s single mother leads to his sexual awakening, including an orgasm, is more than repulsive. Later, the mother’s boy moves out for a better life and earns his money with a lot of sex in front of the camera.

Rocco Siffredi, whose name is based on Alain Delon’s gangster role as Roch Siffredi in “Borsalino” (1970), had a high affinity for sex. His hypersexuality (sex addiction) earned him the name “the Italian stallion.” In a Paris swingers club he met the producer and leading actor of the “Supersex” magazine Gabriel Pontello. Siffredi made his first pornography at the age of 21, he slept with over 5,000 people, and Siffredi made over 1,500 films in total. His specialty: anal sex, bondage and sadism.

In interviews, the ex-porn star talks about how important consensual sex is. He now produces porn himself, advocates for lifelike porn, runs his own porn academy, is married and has two sons. “Rocco,” a documentary about Siffredi, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2016. He confesses to the directing duo Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai: “My sexuality is my demon.” In the series, he is celebrated exclusively for this in the first three episodes. Lead actor Alessandro Borghi himself speaks of 40 to 50 sex scenes filmed.

With artificially exaggerated, heroic phrases, screenwriter Francesca Manieri makes “supersex” the motif; Rocco and Tommaso speak of “dynamite between the legs,” “the energy that drives the whole world,” and a “kingdom of complete freedom.” The gaze is constantly male. When Rocco sees a naked woman, the camera films her from below, sliding over her trembling body during sex. The good things about men are never shown.

The directing trio Matteo Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni don’t take time for depth psychology. Little is learned about the difficult relationship with Rocco’s mother, his much older half-brother Tommaso (Adriano Giannini) serves as a super sex role model and mentor, Tommaso’s girlfriend Lucia (Jasmine Trinca) is a fictional creation made up of women who shaped Siffredi’s life became. She is the only woman with whom Rocco talks about his calling and for whom he seems to feel something like empathy and love. Because of a toxic relationship, Lucia is a victim of her circumstances, but ultimately she is forgotten again when Rocco starts again.

“Supersex” only scratches the surface of a controversial figure who has had a significant impact on the sex film scene. In the end, only pornographic scenes remain in your head.

The criticism was based on the first three parts of the seven-part series, which premiered at the Berlinale in the “Berlinale Special” section. All episodes are available on Netflix, age rating from 16.

Available on Netflix

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