*original review posted on 2/4/2019*
*revised on 6/5/2022*
Mexican pornographic films shot on 35mm do exist & only one Mexican filmmaker dared to make them and it was none other than Angel Rodriguez Vazquez. According to the book by E. Roman “El Cine Pornografico Mexicano De Los ‘90”—Angel made 4 porn films and all 4 films were shot around the mid-1980’s and not released until the 1990’s when they were finally approved for release theatrically. The long wait for release was due to the RTC not knowing how to handle/describe these films for release & also having to verify that these films were legitimately made in the country, rather than being some “illegal” type of pornography from outside. Once the films got their approval, they were screened in various Mexican theaters for several years and went straight to video in the USA.
The very first Mexican pornographic film to be released (also the very first one to be made) was “Las Profesoras Del Amor” in 1993 which then followed by “Traficantes De Sexo”, then in 1995 Despertar Del Sexo came along. The last one to come was “Sexo Para Dos”. This review will consist of Despertar Del Sexo. I will hopefully follow-up with the rest later on.
In El Despertar Del Sexo (aka "The Sexual Awakening") we meet Manolo, a young man who’s going through a phase where all he thinks about is having sex. It doesn’t help when he overhears his brother & his wife having sex in the house, thus having him think about sex some more. As Manolo continues to have ridiculous sexual fantasies—the young maid Lolita who lives in Manolo’s home is also going through the phase of solely thinking about sex. When Manolo basically forces himself on Lolita (but ends up consenting to it because she’s been thinking of doing it with him mostly), they both finally get what they been wanting, but it suddenly takes a literal deadly turn in the end.
After watching El Despertar Del Sexo, I was left baffled because the ending was very strange and this ending was quite similar to the one of Traficantes De Sexo (according to a friend who’s seen this one). It seems both Despertar & Traficantes end with death after the last orgasm (on screen). Very eerie stuff for sure, but I truly feel these endings were made to shock the audience & of course add some dramatic effect to its lack of plot as well.
Overall though, Despertar plays out fairly unusual through its entire run with many scenes of Manolo in bed touching himself & fantasizing while eerie music in the background plays. It almost feels like a foreshadowing of what’s to come. After these creepy masturbation scenes, we finally meet the other characters in the movie and we are “treated” to plenty of scenes with Manolo's brother & his wife having sex and it’s all so loud enough for the horny Manolo & Lolita to hear. There’s of course lots of voyeurism in the movie—from both Manolo & Lolita—and it feels so very wrong to see.
With Despertar being a pornographic film, I do have to mention/describe the copious amounts of sex on screen and the way the actors appear (duh). Despertar features plenty of hardcore sex scenes and strangely enough, we are treated to seeing the littlest of flaws in the actor’s bodies (zoomed in all obviously). Some of the bodily flaws I have to point out are the birthmarks (or perhaps bruises) on the upper part of the rear belonging to the actress that plays Lolita. They’re quite visible, but they’re so charming as well. There’s a great scene in the beginning where Lolita showers & touches herself all over while Manolo creepily watches. There’s also another scene of Lolita going to her room where she undresses & proceeds to masturbate at the thought of fucking Manolo.
Lolita was my favorite character of the movie honestly. She’s a beautiful young woman and she has an amazing body despite whatever flaws we are to see of. Lolita’s innocence is another likable trait of hers as well. Manolo differs in personality since he’s far from innocent and quite frankly he’s a deviant in the works it seems. His fantasies are far out and wild such as imagining himself at the beach giving a blonde woman head and later on that same blonde appears again in his house where she apparently will “teach” him how to make love. She teases him at first by disappearing in one room and reappearing in another. A supernatural, sexual entity, perhaps? Nah. Just Manolo thinking up weird shit. I also have to note that Manolo’s friends take him to a small brothel, but cannot find himself to fuck the homely prostitute handed to him. He’d rather lose himself in fantasy with the blonde woman and Lolita.
As time has gone by, pornographic films from the past such have been rather intriguing to learn about and in some way I’ve grown to appreciate them and understand why people are actually into them, rather than just get off on them. El Despertar Del Sexo is an unusual & intriguing tale of a young disturbed man’s sexual awakening. A definite must see to believe.
Just as the other 3 Vazquez films — El Despertar Del Sexo is hard to find & lost in obscurity & age. These Mexican porn films need to be unearthed from whatever dirt film lab they’re in right now. They deserve to be seen & praised just as others like it are. I truly feel they’re an important part of Mexican cinema from this particular era and should not be ignored or forgotten whatsoever.
