"Cynara: Poetry in Motion" is an American 40-minute movie set in the 19th century that deals with a romantic relationship between two women. It is softcore porn, very explicit and thus not suitable for younger audiences. But then again why would they want to watch it. This id not a good film by any means and the script is so bad and uninteresting that it's impossible to say if the actresses in here are talented or not. The only material they have is showing us their naked bodies. These, without a doubt, look fairly nice, but from a cinematic perspective there is little of value in here. Actually the movie is pretty pretentious at times, tries to be beautiful in terms of sceneries and art direction, but nothing of it feels authentic. A failure for the most part. Not recommended.

A very short movie indeed. Have to be honest here, but the first 30 minutes is terrible, no continuity or direction at all. Its like, its been put together piece by piece/frame by frame. You can see the love story evolving, but you can see easily that its staged, until...... the love making scene. This saves the movie, and save it, it does. It is beautiful and very well done. Its so well done, its not necessarily acting, cause the kissing especially is full on and you see tongues inside mouths, etc, and kissing each other breasts and full on nudity. Its explicit, but the 2 women are very beautiful too, which is better. If you are into erotic lesbian stories, I truly recommend it, but skip the first 15/20 minutes...maybe...

Criticism first: I did not know what to expect as I was given the DVD, so I was a bit run over, foremost by the fact that it was only 40 mins long. Being a photographer/writer myself I am maybe even too critical. The idea was/is brilliant and timeless, BUT: it would have deserved a better quality (meaning the film material), much better editing (a lot is lost with sudden cuts, music bisected etc), better tuning of voices & soundtrack so the 2 do not destroy one another. I was pretty irritated by the soundtrack at first because it was simply too loud over the voice-overs. The Praise: as said above, the idea is fantastic. The poetry used is delicious, and even Conn's own is very good, seamlessly interspersed with Byron and Dowson: A-plus. The costumes were beautiful, a lot of variety in so short a feature, detailed perfectly down to the jewellery of the period. Have a look at all the jackets/cravats on Hellman and the dresses on Nemeth. The cast! I have never before seen 2 such beautiful women paired in a film. On the one hand we have Nemeth's utterly feminine beauty, full curves, delicate face, all so befitting for the role she plays. On the other, we have Hellman's sculpted, lean, muscular perfection, crowned by her face. Unfairly to Nemeth, someone so stunning she would put Greek Gods to shame. Together, a perfect pairing for the girly heroine and the Byronic hero. Dreamy. Chemistry enough.The scenes: Conn obviously wanted to fulfill as many fantasies as she could get into under 40 mins. Again, the idea with the clay and the whole b&w vision is brilliant, as is the quoting of the poetry. Horseriding on a beach, already great: seeing Hellman ride, greater! (She could ride; kudos to Nemeth's horse, because she couldn't - mine would have trampled her) Seeing both together barebacked on one horse, what more could anyone ask (Isn't that also a male fantasy?). The chess scenes, fountain etc are also nice; another great scene is the "dream" scene on the revolving stand (ahem: it would have been so much better if that one had rotated smoothly and if it had been cut so one does NOT see what it is) Again, undoing of tight stays & corset is about as Victorian fantasy fulfilled as there is. Another thumbs up. I would have found it more romantic/realistic if they had actually undressed each other instead of a cut from fully clothed to shedding a morning robe fully naked. Hm. The love scene was especially in the beginning more sweet than arousing, I found the choreography a bit off. Too artistic there, maybe. Due to the fact that they later inter-cut several different scenes and patched like a quilt, it lacks a bit of flow, continuity. Some awesome material there, though. Brownie points for being looong. However one would think that, having some very explicit scenes where it does not feature, they could have done without the blanket between them in the tamer ones. Soundtrack: takes some getting used to, but if you give it a chance you will discover it was, like the rest of the film, lovingly written and performed, with a very good tune. The poetry: Conn obviously is a fan of Byron, choosing some of his most famous poems, She Walks In Beauty, The First Kiss of Love, and Maid of Athens. Dowson's more tormented Sub Regno Cynarae to complement this works beautifully. Conn's own Naked Heart manages to capture the sentiment of the period nicely (made me think of anatomical lessons in whitewashed medical theatres, hm)I didn't want to descend to pure fandom, but I thought what MAKES this film literally is Melissa Hellman. She manages to carry off cross dressing as something enhancing beauty, not awkwardness. If I am not mistaken it is her voice we hear re-awakening lines from Byron and Dowson, making them shine again. It is her whom we see as the B&W (almost stills) vision of Cynara while she sculpts. The riding I already mentioned. Simply a breathtaking presence on screen. Finally, this would have deserved to be a full feature film with more dialogue and a bit more plot. As a love token to someone as Conn intended it I guess, it is perfect (what did you get on your last b-day??) For being done in 1996 it was a milestone and there is still nothing that could compare. Before you see this, take the time to have a romantic candle-light dinner with someone special first, read up on Byron, on the 19th century, buy some roses and get into the mood. Watch it twice so you get over the flaws you'll notice the first time. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. I wish they'd do a sequel, preferably with the same cast if still available.

Way to pretentious,not enough story to care about the characters.The pace was very slow and actually not much really happens in this film. Scenes are frequently reused also After about 10 minutes going into this film I knew this was going to be dull.Image seems to more important than substance. One also have to wonder why the movie is set in the 19th century, because the overall affect and camera work would not lead you to think so. You really don't get that feel in this movie Also the love scene was unnecessary long and explicit. It was like watching a pretentious soft core skinamax film. If I had to choose between revealing sex and good characterization I would choose character and plot, which this film was lacking in both character and plot. Very Borrrrinnng.