"Rocco" opens with porn actor Rocco Siffredi talking about a "devil between his legs," his dark side that is permanently threatening to destroy his life. It's too bad that the filmmakers never make any effort to expose this devil and instead seem give their subject complete control over their project. The result is definitely interesting, and sporadically very funny, but unfortunately shies away from Rocco's darkest fears and the low-points of his life. For those unaware, Rocco is a porn actor known for very rough scenes, though apparently (judging from this movie, at least) the work atmosphere on his sets is quite friendly and supportive of the women he works with. You could obviously question if the team is always this nice to the actresses, even when they are not being filmed by outsiders or the women decide in the last minute they don't want to do the really hard stuff, and since the directors rarely interview the porn stars without Rocco present, that element of the film doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. We just have to believe the movie that Rocco is always a nice guy to every girl he has sex in front of a camera with, and your willingness to sympathize with the main character in his more emotional scenes will likely depend on wether you go along with that or not. Speaking of emotional scenes, there are a couple in which Siffredi talks about his family life growing up, or his family life now, and in these moments he seems honest and open about his feelings. However, once more the film suffers from a lack of outside perspective from people who might give a more critical account of our star's private behaviour. The scenes with his sons in particular are awkward to watch, and you can clearly see how uncomfortable they are with being filmed while their dad talks to them about porn. Most of the movie is centered around Rocco with very few outsiders commenting on the man or his work. One is his wife, though we only get a few lines from her about how great a guy her husband is. Another is his cousin and co-worker Gabby, though he serves more as comedic relief (the disappointed look on his face after Siffredi simplifies a set piece he thought of is hilarious and sad at the same time) than he does provide a different viewpoint on the hardcore scenes he films. The only person who manages to take the spotlight away from Rocco and affect the way we see him is fellow porn actress Kelly Stafford, who stole the movie for me. Not only does she offer a female opinion on porn of Rocco's caliber, her friendship with the man, which ostensibly goes much deeper than a mere business relationship, is also very believable and heartwarming. Overall, if you're interested in how porn scenes are filmed, this film might be of interest to you. Just don't expect it to be very critical of its subject.

Many of the reviewers here were apparently expecting an hour and 45 minute long vlog by Rocco going about his daily life, which this is not about. Nor is it another sub-par "I use to do porn but now I am an advocate against it" type documentary.Its an artistic film about Rocco's past and present with a behind the scenes look into some of the scenes and how he feels about it all. How he began to dislike what he did when his family came along and his sons began to grow up.You also get to meet Kelly Stafford, a true unknowing victim of modern feminism, who basically needs to be choked and spit on during sex because she cannot meet a manly man in her real life. She aches for masculinity and dominance so she can succumb to her born-biological female need to be feminine and submissive.The scenes may come across as "degrading" to some, but with masculinity so lacking in this day and age, its what these performers and the female viewers truly want and you get a first hand look into that.This film digs deep into masculinity and femininity with a little background on the man so legendary for putting those very two things onto tape.With all that in mind, enjoy.

Financed by its "star," Rocco Siffredi, and struggling to show the amazing artistry and artistic anguish of this sagging, sad old porn actor and producer, this "documentary" will make you question the meaning of that term in present-day context. Siffredi was one of the pioneers of extreme porn, in which women are brutalized — slapped hard, choked, spit on — during supposedly "sexual" acts, and in this pathetic excuse of a film he tries hard to sell the notion that this is something that women not only enjoy, but demand from a sexual experience. Ultimately, despite what looks like a hefty budget and a lot of deeply anguished cinematic soul-searching on Siffredi's part, the whole enterprise has the entertainment value of two flies enjoying an intimate moment on a dung heap. These are pathetic people who have wasted their lives marketing low-grade filth to pimply 14-year-old boys. They are not particularly intelligent or interesting, they have acquired zero wisdom even though they appear to be in their sixties, and they are far from attractive in any sense. And here's your spoiler — Siffredi's soul-searching leads absolutely nowhere. The reason is simple: he has no soul. If you opt to watch this one, folks, invest in a good-quality vomit bag first.

I want to believe that people, who venture out creatively and do the things that they do to make something, are complex and interesting. This expo leaves only my imagination to fill in the blanks of many questions I have regarding the life and times of Rocco Siffredi. I am left to wonder that all Rocco has to say, after 90 minutes, is that there is a sexual void in his life, and nothing can fill it? Rocco is tortured emotionally by the death of his brother at a young age and his Mother much later in life. His Mom, in the interim, has shaped whom we know as Rocco the porn star today. The films ambiguity makes it confusing to watch, however, as a surveyor of pornographic material, it compels this viewer to wonder, is there anything more I need to ask about Rocco? On the surface I find a man too manly to admit that he may need some type of treatment to deal with what may be a disorder of his mind. He subjects the viewer to his tormented state, and surrounds himself with enablers who validate his "God" only gift, Rocco's sexuality. It is literally a "Passion Play". On the bright side I did find the filming of it beautiful, equivalent too watching a porn without the close ups of naughty bits plugged into each other. I do empathize with reviewers' observations about the mistreatment of women in the porn industry, and for that the film supplies us with porn actress, Kelly Stafford, to dispel that notion and ground the viewer with a feminist point of view. In closing I ask myself is Rocco as interesting as I would like to think someone in his situation would be? The answer is a resounding no, and this disappoints me. Maybe on the surface most people who do pornography are merely normal with heightened sexual prowess and that is all. It's not a disparaging thing to say and maybe had Rocco been a pioneer of pornography; this look into his life could have worked. Again I am not slamming the documentary, I'm left with stones unturned. Instead of honesty from Rocco, I only have his disturbed void and the fact that he may never fill whatever it is.