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"Therese and Isabelle" From
Tuna
Today, I am having a
mini Radley Metzger festival with his 1968
Therese and Isabelle, and his 1970 Lickerish
Quartet.
Radley Metzger is
instrumental in bringing his classics to DVD. He
is working closely with First Run Features to
insure they are the best possible version of his
films. He was born in New York on January 21,
1929. He started in the film industry as an
editor in 1961 because "that was what was
available." He believes that this is an
ideal start for a would-be director. In his
remarkable career, he has written, directed, done
sound, produced and acted. He created soft-core
erotica, and later, hard-core under the names
Harry Paris Henry Paris.
His style has been
called elegant, aristocratic and continental, and
is characterized by beautiful sets and locations,
intelligent stories and good scores. Most of his
films are adaptations of European novels. What
really sets him apart from other producers of
erotica, however, is that he pays as much
attention to what happens between the sex scenes
as he does the sex scenes themselves. Indeed,
most of his adult films appeared in both an X and
an Unrated version.
For an interesting
interview with him, visit: www.scorelogue.com/radtalk.html
Therese and Isabelle is
widely considered his best work, although I would
say his classic hard-core "The Opening of
Misty Beethoven" is a very close second. It
is an adaptation of novel by Violette Leduc , and
is the story of two girls in a French finishing
school. One has been forced to attend by her
newly remarried mother, and is depressed and very
alone. After both have been clumsily seduced by a
local Lothario, they become close friends, and,
eventually, lovers. It is a shame the film was
done in B & W, as the school and the French
countryside are lovely. Black and White does not
detract from the tenderness and sensuality the
two girls show, however. Therese is played by
Essy Persson who is best known for "I, a
Woman." Isabelle is played by Anna Gael, who
has appeared in a total of 18 films. I highly
recommend this film as the best treatment I have
ever seen of awakening sexuality between two
girls. Thumbnails Anna Gael (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6)
Essy Persson (1,
2,
3,
4)
"The
Lickerish Quartet" From Tuna
"The Lickerish
Quartet" is a very unusual film. The plot is
simple -- a family of 3 (mother, father, adult
son) are watching an 8 mm porno, and get bored
and go to a carnival. There, they see a female
trick motorcycle rider who looks like one of the
actresses in the film they were just watching.
They bring her home, and show her the film, but
the film has somehow changed, and the actress
doesn't look at all like her. Each family member
has relations with her before she goes away.
The 8 mm films are
presented in black and white and contrast with
the color of the story. What makes this
fascinating is that the film is full of
flashbacks and flash-forwards both in the
real-life color, and in the B & W porno.
Metzger is trying to explore the nature of both
time and reality. It is not a film you understand
logically as much as one that makes you feel the
meaning.
Two scenes in particular
are memorable. The first is between the father
and the girl in a very modernistic home library.
The floor covering is a dictionary of mainly
erotic words. Rather than voice-over, he focuses
the camera on specific words to show what the two
are doing on the floor. I guess you could call
this a "words-under." The second is
between the girl and the sun. It is shot outside
on a hillside, and is shot with a hand-held
camera using long-shots and extreme closeups, as
well as zooms. The camera work is very effective
in controlling the mood. If you are only going to
see one Metzger, make it "Therese and
Isabelle" or "Misty Beethoven." If
his work interests you, you should see Lickerish
Quartet as well. Thumbnails Thumbnails Erika Remberg (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6)
Silvana Venturelli (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
"The
Last Ride" from Tuna
The Last Ride features
Mickey Rourke as a rodeo star/ex con, and Lori
Singer as an incest survivor/auto mechanic/bank
robber. When Mickey gets out of jail, he wants to
return to the rodeo. When his truck breaks down,
he rides a horse for help and runs into Lori who
first tries to shoot him, then decides to fix his
truck. The two become friends, then lovers. This
is not a very good film. Rourke seems to be
struggling with getting the hang of chewing
tobacco the entire film, and it is not at all
well edited. Lori singer is attractive, and some
of the love scenes with Rourke have steam, but it
is not enough to save this thin plot. IMDB, for
some reason known only to them calls this one
F.T.W, Which are the initials of the Rourke
character. The scenery is great, and some of the
photography and effects editing is very artistic,
but I would rent something different. Thumbnails Lori Singer (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
In addition to the
pictures that go with these daily member's
bonuses every day, the subscription area now has
two years' worth of back issues of the Fun House,
plus the rasslin' babes site, the fakes, the Fun
House, the Encyclopedia, and the Mardi Gras pics.
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