Rating: 
Summary: The Punishment of Anne
Review: The Image, also called The Punishment of Anne is widely regarded by people on the Internet as Radley Metzger's best movie. I agree with that assessment. He is an interesting director whose characters are always intelligent people who outwardly lead normal lives in society while privately pursuing out of the ordinary sex lives, such as libertines, S&M, homosexuality, especially lesbianism, prostitution, and so on. If memory serves correctly all of his movies take place in racy locations such as Europe or South America. In other words he isn't doing Desire Under the Elms or something in a sleepy rural community. It's always in a castle, or penthouse, or mansion, or beach house, etc. All of his movies could be considered art movies that are not intended for a general audience. This particular movie involves lesbianism, S&M, humiliation, dominance/submission by well-to-do people in contemporary Paris. It is a VERY faithful adaptation of the book of the same name by Jean de Berg. A thirty something male author attends a party at a socialite's house in Paris where he encounters an old friend, a woman his own age from his upscale social class (she has a Wellesley accent by the way), who is showing off her new pet. Anne, a very beautiful young blonde woman is completely under the older woman's spell and will do anything to prove it. Our hero is then invited into their world for a series of mind games, etc. divided into episodes that take place in different locations, sometimes in public, sometimes behind closed doors over a period of weeks I believe. Like all of Metzger's movies it is very well made and very beautiful. I liked the book and the movie as well. If you are interested in this kind of subject material you'll like this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: not my cup of tea
Review: The only thing about this film that I really liked was the Paris locations. Although I enjoy erotic films (e.g., "The Emmanuelle Collection") and can handle a little softcore S&M ("L'Histoire d'O"), I dislike porn. "The Image" is arguably not pornographic, and it has garnered mostly positive reviews here, but it is too explicit for my taste. There is a fine line in explicitness that, when crossed, destroys the erotic intent of a film. Sorry, S&M fans, but a lingering close-up of female urination is not my cup of tea... As for the quality of the film, it is light years ahead of embarrassingly amateurish (e.g., "The Erotic Ghost"), but does not compare favorably to the classic erotic films in my modest collection ("The Image" was an attempt to expand this collection; I cannot yet comment on my newest acquisition, "Delta of Venus"). The characters are not very appealing, the acting is just so-so, and there is no plot to speak of. I will allow that "The Image" is well lensed. While not on a par with say, "The Red Shoe Diaries," the director does have an eye for artistic direction. I am giving this film two stars because it failed to meet my criteria for erotica. As a straight S&M film, perhaps it is one of the best, as others have opined. In my mind, that merely suggests that the genre has not produced good films. An 'erotic film' can include a bit of S&M (if tastefully done), but I'm having serious doubts, after viewing this highly praised entry, that an 'S&M film' can be truly erotic. Maybe that film exists, and I just haven't found it yet... I would like to mention that I viewed "The Image" immediately after watching "Roman Holiday" for the first time. I thought the delicate sexual dialogue between Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck was a lot more erotic! A lot more fun, too. To be honest, I'm a bit embarrassed to have "The Image" on my shelf. If it weren't for those great shots of Paris...
Rating: 
Summary: Ohmygod! This DVD is hot!!!
Review: The plot as well as the film structure is in the typical european style, but if patient, one falls victim to the eroticism of this film. At times, it can be quite, well, let's just say "mediumcore". If you don't expect too much, you will be suprised by the quality of direction and photograghy. Yet the monotone narration and the lack of dialoque will turn some people off. A must see for the adventureous and open-minded.
Rating:
Summary: 1970's eroticism with style
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat erotic but badly writen and acted
Review: This movie is marginally more than a porn flick. There are some fairly erotic scenes and an interesting exploration of sado-masochism. Sadly the acting and script are so weak that they become distracting. It is done in a narrative form that tries so hard to be sophisticated and cool about the subject matter yet comes off looking just silly making it slightly more than a mere porn film. There's no real story here and no real humanity, so it cannot be truly erotic. An exploration of the submissive and dominant personalities are what's missing here. Mostly it's an excuse to showcase bdsm. I guess I'd recommend this film for those interested in S&M but would like to steer you toward The Night Porter, The Piano Teacher and Secretary as far superior dramatic works.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast forward review
Review: This wierd little thing has features of mainstream and sex loop flicks, including two NPS-X rated feed the babe scenes, and two babe as sprinkler scenes. There's also an update on Mr. Bean's how to hide food scene, and some other assorted nastiness. Unlike a loop it has a soundtrack, but it's hideous, so that doesn't really matter. And the picture quality is better than, say, an HOM or Nuwest loop, but there's some "plot" to plow through as an offset, kind of a draw there. For sex sleaze fans, we got two or three whipping scenes, but it's all reaction shots with a few fakey after effects that don't match the apparent violence at all. In spite of all the nudity and the general sleaze atmosphere, there's really not much here. So, I guess three stars, one for all the whipping scenes, given their relative weakness, one for the assorted nastiness, and I guess one more for having such a cute slave babe and for the percentage of nudity to total running length (NTRL) factor.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Erotica at its Best
Review: What a great DVD! I've had this film on tape in as many incarnations as I could find it but none have ever looked this good. Considering the other erotic DVD releases I've seen, nothing comes close. This is simply a disc that any collector should have. Metzger (Henry Paris, whatever) was truly one of the real bright lights in a business that generally cares little for acting and/or dialogue. For this genre, one of the very few films that even aspire to actually be one. Major credit to Synapse Films for the work to get this totally right. BRAVO!
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