WWW – Just how adored is Riki Kandinsky, the eponymous subject of the seriocomic Italian feature, “Adored: Diary of a Male Porn Star”?
He is adored by his uptight older brother Federico, whom Riki teaches how to reconnect with his heart and embrace bourgeois responsibilities with sincerity.
He is adored by Plapla (that’s right, Plapla), a young orphan boy who touches a hidden fraternal instinct buried deep within his hedonistic soul.
He is adored by his director, who covets Riki’s ability to get into character with such unparalleled, um, efficiency.
Most of all, he is adored by the entire populace of Italy, most of whom have never seen his movies but are blown away by his charm and witty remarks.
We can only assume that something essential got lost in translation, because there is little for an American audience to adore about the film’s star- writer-director Marco Filiberti, a breathtakingly self-idolatrous artist who makes Roberto Benigni look like an avatar of humility.
Certainly, not since “Life Is Beautiful” have we seen an actor hold his intended audience hostage with as much shamelessness. That utter lack of shame is shared by Filiberti’s Riki, a dolce vita kind of guy who resembles a young Henry Winkler as coiffed and cosmeticized by Queen Nefertiti’s makeup girl.
Riki bares it all. Riki does it all. Riki dresses in a tropical Santa Claus outfit and shakes his booty like a Super Bowl cheerleader. “I want to make everybody happy by spreading the light,” writes Riki in his diary.
Yes, Riki writes too, lofty and philosophical thoughts. Riki listens to Mozart and Debussy, as well. This is because Riki grew up in an aristocratic family, whom he shields from his bacchanalian lifestyle.
For all his celebrity, wealth and good times, however, something is missing from Riki’s life. Riki is missing love. Once burnt in romance, Riki cannot give his heart to Claudio, a sloppy-kissing porn actor who moonlights by restoring old churches. But Riki can give brotherly love, of a deep and transforming kind. Enter Federico. Enter Plapla.
And enter the law. Society does not smile upon sexually transgressive male entertainers who dote on young boys, however pure and familial the affection. Poor Riki. Poor Plapla.
For the record, the title of this sublimely terrible movie was changed from the original “Little More Than a Year Ago,” presumably in a cynical move to rope in the “Boogie Nights” crowd. Fans of pornography and/or things Italian will be disappointed to find there are no unnatural acts with a plate of gnocchi.