Zazel: The Scent of Love

Studio: Cal Vista
Director: Philip Mond
Cast: Sasha Vinni, Gina Lamarca, Anna Romero, Grace Harlowe, Brooke Lane, Lene Hefner, Helena, Nikie St. Giles, Antonio Valentino, Kevin James, Drew Reese, Devin, and Jon

“You’ve got the scent, you’ve got the scent – the scent of love.” – Not ABC

Portions of this review also appeared on Fleshbot

Like you, I was intrigued by the reissue of Philip Mond’s classic 1990’s porn Zazel – The Scent of Love because I wanted to see what vaginas looked like the year my cat was born. And when I saw the scene with the tiger I felt singularly validated in my curiosity.

Filmed in 1995 and first released in 1997, Zazel has been reissued in 2-disc collector’s set that throws current couples’ porns into harsh relief; it really is a slow burn movie that, by the end, demands that viewing couples go fuck now.

Fragrance designer Zazel (the gorgeous Sasha Vinni) sits sketching by her koi pond when she gets The Call: She has been approved to create her own eponymous perfume! Awesome!

We soon see why Zazel is right for the job. “The scent of love?” she thinks. “What can it be? Where can it be found?”

The rest of the movie follows Zazel through her own journey of discovery in the realms of sex and scent. Painted nymphs appear as her muses. She realizes her perfume must have “the breath of heaven; the taste of sin.”

Don’t get me wrong: Zazel shares with today’s tolerated trophy porn auteurs the tendency to talk out its ass.

“Does the scent of love come from the heavens? The Earth? The wild orchid? The water lilly?”

“Angels from heaven descend into Pluto’s realm and divulge their secrets with intoxicating rapture.”

“Shiva: Goddess of Creation” (luckily Hindus don’t undertake jihads.)

But it is also beautifully shot and staged. No performer involved in realizing Mond’s (and Zazel’s) vision is anything short of beautiful (most are fleshy and toned Penthouse models of its pre-bankruptcy period) and each set piece is so creatively erotic that calling it porn – by today’s standards – seems insufficient.

One example finds Zazel examining the vulva-like qualities of the picture of a flower in a book. Another does for tiger paint what the “Rio” video never could.

It is safe to play this movie with the sound off as long as you keep in mind that “Zazel is doing work-related research.” We never see the fruits of her R&D on the shelves, but then again, Hell-derived intoxicating rapture in a bottle is probably wicked expensive.