An elegantly dressed woman strolls along a bustling waterfront. When she spots a young woman chatting on the phone in the distance her eyes light up. Soon she’s following this apparently randomly chosen stranger through the city. Alis Locanta’s “Shoes” certainly begins on an intriguing note, but it’s when Frida turns and notices that Tania G has been pursuing her, that the film gets even more interesting. As the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, Tania leads Frida into a large empty room. Tania begins to purposefully strip Frida of her clothing. After applying lipstick to Frida’s lips, Tania removes Frida’s sneakers and replaces them with a pair of stylish high heels. With this introduction and preparation complete, “Shoes,” which is subtitled “You Are My Babe,” begins in earnest. Now we’re in some stylized interior space. Frida reclines nude on the floor and Tania, wearing only a pair of black panties, begins aggressively making love to her. Locanta’s camera is agile, revealing, and surprising – one moment it’s in close as Tania ravenously sucks and licks Frida’s glistening pussy, the next it’s high overhead looking down on the twosome from above. Although it’s subtly telegraphed, this is very much a tale of dominance and submission. Tania delights in controlling the interlude and manipulating her beautiful young conquest, and Frida is more than happy to submit to the seduction and is easily and repeatedly brought to peaks of intense pleasure. Even when the tables are turned and Frida pleasures Tania, the balance of power remains slightly unequal, and even after they’ve shuddered and moaned through a delirious orgasm in the scissors position the roles of seducer and seduced remain intact. In search of high style, kink-tinged lesbian erotica? It’s got to be the “Shoes.”
