NORTHERN CALIFORNIA'S LARGEST NEWSPAPER

November 4. 2007

DVD REVIEWS

THE ART OF SENSUAL MASSAGE

by Mick LaSalle

RATING: WILD APPLAUSE

Two years before he made "The Classic Stars of Bellydance," Bay Area filmmaker Gordon Inkeles made this 50-minute film about the art of massage, which played at Cannes and was lauded at film festivals all over the world. Made in 1972, it remains the landmark massage film and is of value as an instruction video and also for the philosophy and sense of history it brings to the subject. In the early '7Os, massage was widely thought of in one of two very limiting ways: either as a euphemism for something lewd (at a massage parlor) or as something punishing or vigorous that might happen at a health club. ("sex or therapy," as Inkeles puts it).

Inkeles' approach is to rescue massage as a full-body experience, one that transmits pleasure, sensuality and relaxation. His film is about the importance of touch - "To be touched, carefully and tenderly, is tangible proof that we're not alone, " Inkeles says in voice-over - and it gives detailed instructions on how to massage the various parts of the body: the head, the hands, the forearms, the feet, etc. The film is an ideal present for couples to give to each other. It's also a refreshing introduction to (or reminder of) a certain period in the early '70s, when it seemed as if the culture were heading toward a more enlightened understanding of the connection between the physical and spiritual lives.

by Mick LaSalle

ISBN 0-9669149-6-1 THE ART OF SENSUAL MASSAGE DVD

ISBN 0-9748535-3-4 THE ART OF SENSUAL MASSAGE BOOK AND DVD SET

Available from neighborhood booksellers and online retailers

CB Distributors, Baker & Taylor Entertainment,

Last Gasp, Turnatound UK. Details, sensualmassage.net