Truth be told I have three or four (or six?) DVDs I've bought that I haven't gotten around to watching yet. "The Image" (1975) is one of them.
It's supposed to be one of the best erotic movies ever made, from "the golden age of erotica." Supposedly. I did not find it erotic in the least. You see, it's an S&M movie.
There's a trend in erotic movies, for some reason. Think of "Last Tango," think of "Emmanuelle," think of "Prime Cuts," think of "The Beast," think of "The Opening of Misty Beethoven" (by the same director), think of "The Devil in Miss Jones." I guess guilt maybe makes some people equate pain with pleasure, or maybe women are only allowed to enjoy themselves if they're being whipped and humiliated. Personally it takes all of the pleasure out of seeing beautiful naked bodies bumping boots if it's done as coercion.
The Paris scenery is gorgeous, but the actors and actresses speak the English dialog as if it's painful to read the script (it kinda is). The music is all this awful Serge Gainsbourg shit.
At least with "Fifty Shades" they built a little erotic tension first, and the bondage was all consensual.
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