What is the life of a male porn star like? Adored: Diary of a Porn Star, directed by Marco Filiberti, presents a very believable account of fictional Riccardo Soldari aka Riki Kandinsky (played by the director). Although flashbacks provide a glimpse into the porn star's childhood, the story begins with his arrival at the family home in France to attend the funeral of Count Soldari, his father. Afterward, Riki returns to his apartment in Rome to continue his career. His older brother, Federico (played by Urbano Barberini), not having seen Riki for a decade or so, becomes fascinated with Riki's obvious maturity, though he is only twenty-nine. Not having achieved respect, either in his career or from his family, Federico lacks self-esteem, and his girlfriend appears not to be a good match, so he hopes to learn something from his secretive brother by staying with him in Rome under the pretext that he has to consult the family lawyer in Rome. When Riki realizes that Federico will not achieve piece of mind until he learns how he can live so well despite working at an unknown occupation once per week, he comes out of the closet, admitting that he is paid to have sex with men on film. After displaying considerable emotion, Federico gets over the shock and sees for himself how his brother lives. One of Riki's admirers is Luna (played by Rosalinda Celetano), a female sculptress, another is a male porn star (played by Claudio Vanni) who is in love with him, but he has shut the homophobic straight world out of his life--and for good reason, as the story develops. After Federico accompanies Riki to a gay bar as well as to the shooting of a scene from his latest film, he becomes more admiring of his kid brother, but he warns Riki that his good looks and sexual prowess will not last forever, advice that Riki at first brushes aside but later begins to take seriously. Riki once had a disastrous love affair, so he never wants another romantic disappointment, and he claims to have had sex with six hundred men and four women. But when his Lesbian sister dies, leaving adorable six-year-old Plapla (played by Edouardo Minciotti) without a parent, the two bond very strongly. Plapla's grandparents, who are too straight to seem appropriate as his new guardians, definitely disapprove of Riki. Despite Plapla's desire to live with Riki, a court awards custody to the grandparents, and for the first time Riki shows deep emotion. Although Riki is at the top of his trade, the heterosexist damage to his self-esteem now weighs very heavily on him, as if all those who expressed homophobic contempt toward him over the years had a cumulative impact at the very moment when he walks out of the courtroom unaccompanied by Plapla. Adored: Diary of a Porn Star (in Italian, Poco più di un anno fa, which can be translated A Little More Than A Year Ago) shows Riki's muscular torso to advantage, but his real beauty is his gentle demeanor and sweet disposition, so he is no Don Giovanni despite a tragic ending. With his ego shattered, the ending is perhaps no surprise. The film is presented as if a documentary in the year 2014, punctuated from time to time by superfluous commentators on his career and his life. With the film under his belt as his first directed film, the world keenly awaits an encore from Marco Filiberti, who has indeed become a porn star without even having to expose an endowment that appears to be huge. MH
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