Title: Nina Hartley's Guide to Sensual Submission #1: How to Submit to a Man Studio: Adam and Eve Director: Ernest Greene Cast: Nina Hartley, Sean Michaels, Amber Michaels, Frank Fortuna Genres:: Male Domination, Bondage, Interracial, Rubber, Spanking, Toys Condoms: No Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

Any instructional video as talkative as this one simply needs better sound. Star and hostess Hartley has plenty to say about sex, submission and relationships, but it’s a struggle to make it out with the muddy audio and echoing sets.

This is my the chief complaint about the DVD, although not my only one. For instance, this purports to be a guide for submitting specifically to a man (Hartley has produced a long list of how-to erotic videos, including another, which I haven’t seen, about submitting to a woman). And yet the advice here is general enough to be applied to either. In the opening monologue, in fact, Hartley sits on a couch discussing the subject of sensual submission while Amber Michaels sits silently beside her, preening and pouting into the camera, alternately gazing affectionately at Hartley and stroking her own legs and breasts. The reason for her presence is never really clear, and I can only assume Hartley didn’t have sufficient confidence that her somewhat dry instruction (“The whole notion of willing submission invites us to think counter-intuitively to how we function in day-to-day life,” she tells us.) would hold the attention of an audience potentially more interested in erotic thrills than an education.

Conscious of this dual purpose, Hartley makes the movie as much about showing submission as explaining it. Balanced with a good deal of talk are a pair of straight-forward submission scenes which illustrate the points. The first, featuring Hartley herself submitting to a humorless Sean Michaels, walks the fine line between genuine eroticism and silliness. After all, a man wearing a latex corset and wrap-around sunglasses can only be taken so seriously. The second is more playful and offers a better idea of how a couple’s experimentation might play out in real life. The scene features Amber Michaels and Frank Fortuna, both of whom obviously enjoy the game. Submission, the movie makes clear, is not about abuse or humiliation.

An unintended comic footnote to the whole production is the amount of equipment required for most of these games. What’s really necessary to successfully experiment with domination and submission, Hartley tells us, is an open mind and love for your partner. Not mentioned are the thousands of dollars worth of harnesses, swings, collars and riding crops also apparently necessary, not to mention a generous amount of storage space.

Despite its technical problems, there’s a lot to recommend this film. In the endless flood of adult porn, it’s refreshing to find anything with a higher purpose, no matter how effective it is, and Hartley — a 20-year adult film veteran who, as she’s moved into undeniable middle-age, has cannily recast herself as a how-to sex expert — is intelligent and articulate. She advocates a loving, compassionate brand of sexual adventure, and for couples interested in learning more about exploring new avenues this, and her other guides, will undoubtedly prove useful and exciting.