The Image
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Movie Reviews of The Image
Movie Review: One Of The Few Quality Films Involving BDSM
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of very few quality films with an actual storyline involving BDSM erotica. Like most Radley Metzger films this is stylish and slick. It is my favorite Metzger film. It is very nicely filmed and looks it. The Synapse DVD release is top quality all around. Sure the music is dated, but it is period for the time it was made. It does actually have some fairly explicit sex(mostly oral). I could do without the sledgehammer symbolism of water shooting and various phallic images, but this really does not hurt the film too much. The performances of the three principal characters do vary a lot in quality. Carl Parker as Jean is mostly cartoonish at best. Some of his voice-over narration almost sounds like a schoolboy giving an oral report. Marilyn Roberts as Claire is very good. Her character as a lifestyle dominatrix is fairly believable for the most part. The true standout is Rebecca Brooke (under one of her pseudonyms Mary Mendum) as Anne. Not only is she a natural beauty, but a very good actress. She is absolute perfection in this role. Her character is very convincing as a lifestyle submissive. Her performance (both physical and spoken) is right on the money throughout the film. Not everyone will react to a given situation in the same way (I refer to other critical comments about "a submissive acts like this-doesn't act like that" sort of thing). She makes it look natural enough to make one wonder if she was more than just a good actress with good direction. Also, while the various whipping scenes are laughable, the ultimate punishment scene near the end looks and sounds as if it may have been done for real. It is really something to watch and listen to.
I find her performance in every way superior to Corinne Clery's in Just Jaekin's overrated The Story Of 'O'.
For a decent story line, surprisingly high production values, an excellent DVD release and above all Rebecca Brooke/Mary Mendum as Anne-
I believe this film (even with its flaws) rightfully earns five stars. It is a must have if your tastes lean towards BDSM.
Movie Review: SM arthouse style
Summary: 5 Stars
Radley METZGER's THE IMAGE (also known under the more exploitative title THE PUNISHMENT OF ANNE) is without doubt not everybody's cup of tea. Based on an infamous French bestseller this movie is shocking in its relentless depiction of a weird triangle relationship between a mature woman, her submissive young girl friend and a curious author.Please note: If you feel uneasy when you see graphic sex, humiliation, degradation, bondage, whipping and urination, then do not watch this film. On the other hand, this is no raincoat brigade movie. Instead it is a masterly crafted piece of art with outstanding cinematography, a beautiful score and fine actors (Yes, everybody here can act better than most mainstream academy award winners.)
Regrettably the rough SM scenes could easily distract from or obscure the motivation of the characters.
THE IMAGE has an unusual book-like structure with chapters (no, I'm not refering to the DVD chapters). According to the liner notes the film is very faithful to its literary source. I liked the social setting of the film - it takes places among educated, eloquent and wealthy jet set people. And the film makes good use of its nice Paris locations. I found THE IMAGE very compelling viewing. I just didn't like the fitting room scene too much, because it seemed like a rather cliche porn situation to me.
Some words about the DVD: SYNAPSE did a real great job with the transfer. One can't praise the picture quality high enough. The uncut film is presented widescreen.
Unfortunately there aren't too many extras: the director's filmography, an isolated score and five trailers of Radley METZGER movies: SCORE, THE LICKERISH QUARTET, CAMILLE 2000, THERESE AND ISABELLE and CARMEN BABY. Kudos to Stephen R. BISSETTE for his insightful liner notes. I recommend to read it before you watch the movie, because it really enhances your understanding of the film despite some spoilers.
Movie Review: 1970's eroticism with style
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie could easily have been done differently. Radley Metzgar made movies that were very high on style and settings and generally of a softer erotic nature. More high on tease than delivery. He went on to make some of perhaps the best hard core movies of the 1970's under the name of Harry Paris. This is not one of the hard core movies, but is certainly more explicit than his usual European soft core movies. Start out by reading the insert that gives background in the making and marketing of this movie, as it will put in into the context of the time it was filmed. This DVD also comes with a parental lock feature, and if there are young people that could see this movie, this would be important. The role of Anne is listed as Mary Mendum, although the IMDB indicates that is a non-de-plume. Regardless, she is a stunning model of great beauty even if the role is not Oscar material. This movie is sensuous and erotic, and highly charged. Some might think it too slow or not enough action. But, this movie is about exciting the senses, not the spirit. The S&M scene in the Gothic chamber is high on sounds and visuals and even over-acting, rather than explict beatings and that is a positive. The print is from the original 35mm print, and is very good quality. The male narration may become annoying but then harken back to the background insert which touches on that issue.This movie would probably not get a NC-17 rating, but it certainly is a very strong R rating.
Movie Review: Euro-erotic masterpiece!
Summary: 5 Stars
In the tradition of "The Story of O" and "Emmanuel"...this Radley Metzger 1975 classic is stupendous!Beautifully filmed, with minimum fanfare, it gets straight to the point within minutes of you watching it. And that point is not pornographic...but rather sensual and erotic. The total submission of the young star, Anne, played by Mary Mendum, to her older dominatrix girlfriend Claire and her boyfriend Jean, is "a middle aged couple's dream come true". If you want your wife or girlfriend to be dripping with anticipation...turn the lights down and have her watch this film, in its entirety and I'm certain any woman will be drawn in to its lusty presentation! That being said...this is not a film for group viewing by your neighbors next door...unless????
Unlike the video taped, bluntly pornographic XXX movies of today... 1975's "The Image" was filmed, in a way when showing just enough, was good enough to be shown. Although there are some shocking scenes of oral sex between the stars, this film mostly deals with sexual tension and lustful sentiments, inside anyone (male or female) who has ever "lusted" after a youthful girl, strictly to inflict decipline, pain and pleasure upon her. Five stars is not high enough of a rating for this "must have in your erotic collection masterpiece!" I would have always enjoyed more violent sex and torture scenes, however, given what's being produced these days....this film clearly stands out as a "classic of all time" proportions!
Movie Review: An Erotic Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
I just want to echo the praise for this film that I've read here. My advice is to watch the film alone, not with "friends." That way you can react to it without wondering if your reaction is getting approval. This is a very rare form of erotic film making in that it reflects a subject that all too easily could slide into salacious bad taste but manages to avoid it. That alone is a major achievement for Radley Metzger. The acting in the film is good and the direction is stellar, given what occurs. The only thing that seemed awkward to me was the narration which at times seemed too contrived. The end also seems incongruent. But the film deserves five stars because its flaws are nothing compared to what it accomplishes as erotic art. I have never seen anything produced in the West that can compare within the genre. The only thing I can think of that handles this delicate subject with such aplomb and humor is Japanese soft-core pornography. I think the Judeo-Christian tradition that informs so much of Western sexual mores taints all such eroticism as something dirty, sinful, perverse and something to be avoided. The Japanese, on the other hand, revel playfully in eroticism. Though they have no problem churning out tasteless porno, like everyone else, they also have the ability to raise it to high art with little difficulty. Metzger is the only Western director I know of who has freed himself of the influence that makes the West see "abnormal" sex as distasteful.