It doesn't seem possible, but William Higgins has given us another nearly flawless flick which takes place amid the flora and fauna of the Czech Republic, one which will remind you of themes and scenes burned into your memory from his classic productions which were made in California. "Carlo & Friends," however, is exquisitely more romantic and sensual than most of those movies, a fantasy filled with beautiful men who find sex wherever they wander.

"Carlo & Friends" is infinitely more casual than either of Higgins' "Andel" (All Worlds) stories, less structured than his "Prague Buddies" (William Higgins) films, and hornier than the testosterone-filled romp of the more recent "Double Czech" (All Worlds). It's astonishing how he has used a seemingly haphazard series of highly-charged loops to fashion a sweetly cohesive story of a young man midway between twinkdom and manhood who loses his man-to-man virginity to his best friend in the woods, and proceeds from there to fuck and suck his way through the Czech countryside as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It is made all the more logical with a star like the fresh-faced, cherubic, gymnast-built, bubble-butted Carlo Festa. But without the Higgins imagination, it would have been just another fuck flick in the hands of 99% of all the other directors in the game.

Dressed in what appear to be scouting uniforms, Carlo and Zdnek happen upon a pair of huge boulders, which have apparently been carved over the centuries to resemble hideous demons from Czech folklore. "Looks like your girlfriend," Zdnek teases. They then come upon an old trunk stuck between two boulders. They open it and discover old costumes, including what appear to be short, white Roman togas. Zdnek teases Carlo again: "let's put them on," and though hesitant at first, Carlo lets his friend help undress him and they slip into their costumes. With their bronzed bodies, and subtle ways of modestly groping each other, Zdnek and Carlo play out one of the most romantic seductions Higgins has ever presented. Carlo innocently goes into his backpack and pulls out a bunch of grapes. They feed each other, one at a time, until Zdnek slips one between Carlo's lips, and then leans over to suck it out -- but winds up, of course, in a passionate kiss.

Zdnek is in complete control here, kissing, groping, and eventually sucking Carlo into torrents of passion. Carlo seems somewhat taken aback at first, but falls into the lovefest with increasing comfort as Zdnek positions him for various assaults on his cock -- he gets in a lot of twirling, licking and an occasional shaft-dive, and even gets Carlo to crouch on all-fours as he lays on his back beneath him to deep-throat Carlo's hard, thick schlong. Soon, Carlo has learned his way around a pecker, manifested by an intense 69 session, which is followed by Zdnek offering up his ass missionary-style. Carlo partakes of his first man-fuck in style, while Zdnek sweetly moans and mutters, then Carlo picks up the tempo for a superb series of pumps and thrusts which send explosive swirls of cum all over them. They kiss, and collapse into each other's arms.

But, Zdnek has Carlo where he wants him, and soon places his friend doggy-style over a rock and starts to lick and plumb that delightful pucker. He pulls a dildo out of nowhere, and slips it up Carlo's ass: "Everyone has a first time," he says, as if every man in the Czech Republic goes through this. He throws a rhythmic fuck into his friend, and once again they burst with pent-up juice all over each other. They collapse into each other's arms and lay down on the blanket, naked and entwined, for a nap.

What follows is up for discussion. Carlo dreams that he is a young man biking through the area during World War II dressed in a "youth for Hitler" outfit. Two SS officers, Vladimir Gott and Cage Kojc, who demand to see his papers, accost him. Time out. A long disclaimer from Higgins that warns anyone who is offended by such things to stay away precedes the movie. He also explains that he chose this vehicle as a comment on the hypocrisy of Nazism and modern day right-wingers when it comes to sexuality. Quite frankly, as one who grew up right after WWII, I found the scene, which is the weakest in the movie sexually, totally harmless. But, that could be because Vladimir and Cage are so beautiful that one's mind wanders. I doubt it. Higgins can be forgiven for his artistic indulgence because it's not out of the realm of possibility that a scene like this may have taken place exactly where it is filmed.

The scene's premise is that Carlo will be conscripted into Vladimir and Cage's unit, but first he has to show them respect. They dress him in a fishnet bodystocking and turn him into their personal slave. He licks their boots, serves them tea and food, and eventually sucks their cocks. Now, this is an impressive pair of cocks on two superbly engineered bodies topped by beautiful faces. Vladimir is an open-faced, brown-haired beauty who is more of a middleweight than Cage, whose more angular close-cropped beauty is accented by a harder, leaner frame. They look somewhat like each other, but different, if you know what I mean. Fans of Higgins' EuroMilitary site [ http://EuroMilitary.com ] will recognize Vladimir as less versatile here than he is on the site -- he is strictly top to Carlo's hesitant bottom. Cage is also is strictly trade here. Both men treat Carlo with some deference, but get their fill of him by filling his mouth and butt with their cocks. There is a tantalizing sequence in which Vladimir eats a banana, Cage smokes a cigarette, and both discuss how they are impressed with Carlo's banana. But, they make sure that the banana-split is served to Carlo, instead.

It comes almost as a shock -- but I suppose a very calculated move by Higgins -- when midway through Carlo's back-and-forth blowjob of the two, that Vladimir and Cage actually lock jaws in a feverish kiss. There is a subliminal heat between the two of them that plays all sorts of tricks with the Nazi disclaimer -- and, by the way, they look like they might make an interesting duo in some future Higgins extravaganza. They treat Carlo as they wish, pounding him against boulders, across little ridges, swapping him back and forth in a series of heavy thrusts during a multiple sit-fuck sequence. Cage eventually can take no more and bathes Carlo in a stream of goo, and Carlo cums as well. Then Vladimir takes over again, pounding Carlo doggy-style until he is ready to cum -- and he issues forth a fountain. (The money-shots in this flick are superb!) Vladimir and Cage tie Carlo up and get dressed, but they share one last quick kiss before they go back to the front. Meanwhile, Carlo wakes up and is back to reality from a dream sequence which was built around Higgins' rationale for this flick -- he developed a costume semi-fetish last year, according to his website reports, and these uniforms, and the body net, sort of fit the theme of the overall direction of "Carlo & Friends," in which costumes of one sort or another are devices for plot-twists.

The most delightful plot-twist of the movie has Carlo once again on his bike, this time in his own time, happening upon a farmboy who is selling honey on a lonely country road. The farmer, decked out in coveralls and a straw hat, is the gloriously beautiful Pavel Korsakov, without question one of the great romantic presences to come out of Europe's male porn scene in the past 10 years. A real-life pole-vaulter until he was injured in Olympic tryouts, Pavel has a striking resemblance to the aforementioned Zdnek Vesper in many respects, except he has raven black hair and a slightly more open face. His roles early on had him strictly as a bottom (most often to that Czech hunk, Jirka Kavloda), but he has always acted in the role of a seducer. He tops himself in this scene, as he tries to convince a skeptical Carlo that the honey he is offering is real, and not from the supermarket.

He does this by dipping his finger into a jar, and having Carlo suck the honey. He then invites him to the shack where the honey is made, where he dips his finger into the jar, rubs it on Carlo's lips, and then licks it off. Carlo dips his finger in, rubs it on one of Pavel's superb nipples, and licks it off. They kiss, Pavel drops to his knees, pulls out Carlo's cock, rubs honey on it, and cleans it off with some deep gorges -- and doesn't stop. He gives Carlo a thorough sucking, and the camera angles bring a new appreciation to Pavel's beauty. Carlo soon takes advantage of Pavel's tool, and soon they are in a feverish 69, with Pavel on the bottom thrusting his throat up on Carlo's big cock as Carlo plunges down on Pavel. They segue into a fuck-a-thon, with Pavel as top, first doggy and then sit-fuck until both explode -- once again, Carlo shooting a geyser.

Having done the farmer, Carlo moves on. He discovers a huge logging saw and peers through the trees to see a glorious dream-come-true -- the logger, on a boulder which stands well above the entire forest, whacking his huge cock in the brilliant sunshine of the Prague countryside. Carlo's jaw drops, not just from the size of the cock he sees, but also from the sheer magnitude of the man who possesses it -- Jan Dvorak. There follows a sequence that could have literally been taken out of Higgins' California epics "Leo and Lance" or "Sailor in the Wild." Jan whacking off, Carlo watching him and doing the same, until Jan spots Carlo. He comes down from the mount (so to speak) and Higgins cuts to a close-up side-shot of Carlo's face; into the frame from the left appears a nine-inch shaft of man-meat, which Carlo knows will be his greatest challenge yet. He gives Jan a solid blowjob, but it comes as somewhat of a surprise when the camera shifts suddenly to a close-up of Jan's superb hole -- he is on his knees, and he is sucking Carlo. This is a surprise, for Jan heretofore has not sucked cock in a Higgins movie, and he does it with aplomb for several minutes, even pausing to nibble on Carlo's lovely chest and nips. But, Jan is a top if anything, and he eventually bends Carlo over a bridge rail and plows him mercilessly. You can tell this is a new experience for Carlo -- he howls as that nine-incher plows straight up to his throat. As usual, Jan cums in a flood, but Carlo is not far behind in force or in volume.

Finally, Carlo happens upon a castle -- what a beautiful vision, bathed in golden light. He walks inside and finds the swarthy, pink-cheeked, goateed Jordi Cosimo -- dressed in the same scouting outfit as Carlo -- feeding the fireplace. Seems this is an abandoned place and guys just happen to come by, because upstairs, looking at them, are burly Boris Mateo and the very pretty, very rosy-cheeked Bjorn Bohem. Seems like Carlo has stumbled into a "Scottish party," in which the boys dress up in kilts and hats. Well, why not? The sight of these boys in kilts and kapers will absolutely send you up a wall. One of them protests that they must be bare-butt under the kilts, and pulls out photos of Scottish lads whose asses are exposed in the wind as proof. Soon, Boris, a bit of a tank with a boxer look and a hidden appetite for cock, reaches over and exposes Carlo's hardon. The party, as they say, commences. Boris and Carlo kiss, Jordi and Bjorn kiss, and the three new boys begin their worship of Carlo -- two sucking him at a time while another stands behind him rubbing his body and kissing him. The four switch off several times, each couple kissing, sucking, licking, until there's a four-way daisy-chain on the floor. Then Boris and Jordi find each other as Carlo worships Bjorn's cock. Then an unusual thing happens -- Jordi, who was somewhat of a reticent player in "Double Czech," becomes the object of desire. Each man takes his turn fucking him missionary-style, while another kisses him or stuffs his mouth with cock, and another sucks him. This is a tour-de-force for this young, attractive man whose hairy chest, pink cheeks and facial hair are totally out of character with Higgins' usual gang of characters -- but it works, it is hot, it is almost over the top. Clearly, by their money-shots, the boys thought so, too.

The movie ends (after two hours) with a superbly edited coda -- the four boys showering together with the cast photos superimposed upon the scene. There's no sex, just cleansing, though I am not sure the number of towels which they needed to dry themselves off would be adequate for the mess you will have to clean up after you watch this exceptional piece of work -- assuming you can get through it in one sitting. In this, the week of the Oscars, there is no better tribute to pay to this man than to suggest that some porn awards outfit inaugurate a parallel honor to the Thalberg Award in the name of William Higgins, but do it while he's still here. He deserves it more than anyone in the history of male porn, and in "Carlo & Friends" he has produced a video that would make a straight man cum.

A Video Review by Bo Champion