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5
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
Two
sisters — naive Justine (Marie Forså) and worldly Juliette (Anne
Bie Warburg) — leave home and have very different adventures
in the real world...
Freely
adapted from the story by the Marquis De Sade —
previously filmed by Jess Franco as Justine
(1968) in a much more sedate manner —
Justine & Juliette intersperses
hardcore sex with some striking imagery. There's much to indicate
the director Mac Ahlberg (hiding behind the cheeky nom de
plum "Bert Torn") intended for the film to be
more than 'just' a sex film, and herein lies the problem. His
handling of the story is too facetious to pack any meaningful
emotional impact, and though the sex scenes tend to be tasteful
and erotic as opposed to endlessly repetitive grind and groan
set-pieces, there's too little 'action' on display. The end
result falls unhappily between two stools —
as a sex film, it has too little going on to really get the
engines roaring, and as a artier exploration of corruption it
simply lacks depth and conviction.
The central roles
are ably filled by Swedish blonde Marie Forså (Vampire
Ecstasy) and Danish brunette Anne Bie Warburg. Both actresses
are appealing to look at and actually attempt to give their
respective characters some semblance of depth, but the screenplay
(also by Ahlberg) keeps them more or less boxed into clear-cut
archetypes: the naive bumpkin, and the manipulative trollop.
Warbug ultimately fares better, and it has to be admitted that
the film really springs to life whenever she appears on screen.
Not only is Warburg a striking beauty, but her sheer enjoyment
of playing so devious a character gives the film a much needed
boost. Dedicated pornophiles will be disappointed, however,
to find that neither actress actually participates in any of
the hardcore action —
what little there is of it is handled by less impressive supporting
actresses, many of whom loll about languidly without appearing
to be particularly excited. Among an unknown (to U.S. viewers,
anyway) supporting cast, only future adult film star Harry Reems
(The Devil
in Miss Jones) stands out. Just how the American actor,
then at the start of his long-running career in XXX cinema,
got cast in the film is open to speculation —
viewers accustomed to his other work will no doubt find the
sight of him dubbed into Swedish something of a hoot. Despite
being dubbed, Reems does play an American —
a wealthy eccentric with a bad ticker who is determined to die
doing what he loves best: screwing and drinking. Swedish actress
Eva Axen, also seen in Italian fare like Dario Argento's Suspiria
(1976) and Luchino Visconti's Death in
Venice (1973), pops up briefly during a softcore tryst
with Warburg.
Unfortunately, while
Ahlberg creates some striking images and seems more concerned
with plot over action, his touch is much too light for its own
good. The Sadean themes of corruption and perversion become
watered down and comic in tone, thus depriving the film of the
disturbing fascination of Franco's Eugenie
de Sade (1970), to choose one of the screen's more effective
Sade adaptations. The end result is by no means disastrous,
but is disappointing enough to call into question the film's
"classic" status.
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| Impulse
Pictures' release of Justine & Juliette
is mostly satisfactory. The 1.66/16x9 transfer looks about as
good as one could expect for a hardcore film of this vintage —
the image is a little soft in places, but the print is in generally
good shape. A noticeable blue tint is evident in many scenes,
but this is possibly intentional in the film's cinematography.
Some speckling and damage is in evidence, but it is watchable
throughout. The mono Swedish soundtrack is generally clean, save
for some minor hissing, and the funky soundtrack comes through
loud and clear. Removable English subtitles are included, and
they are clear and easy to read. Extras are nonexistent — no talent
bios, no trailers, no nothin'. 3/08/07 |
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