The Radley Metzger Collection, Vol. 1 (Therese and Isabelle / The Alley Cats / Camille 2000)

Rating:
Summary: Not Masterpieces, But Worth A Look
Review: Radley Metzger's slick bits of erotica stopped being "dirty" movies sometime in the early 1970's, when the Supreme Court decided that it had more important things to worry about and hardcore pornography flooded the grindhouses. Most of the soft-core films that were replaced have blissfully faded from memory, but Metzger's stuff hangs around, even gets shown at film festivals. Why?

Because they're fun, pretty, sometimes even involving films. Beneath the Euro-naughtiness are loves stories frequently, some of which end un-happily, as they do in life. There are actual performances, beautiful settings, superb photography. And there's the sexy stuff--lots of complaints that the American versions of these films have been cut, but frankly, their very discretion is part of their charm. If you're an adult, you know what's happening, and if you're a goggle-eyed teenager, well, then your imagination will probably summon up something ten times dirtier than any mere movie could show you.

Finally, a word for cinematographer Hans Jura, who shot two of the three films in this collection--black-and-white was fading out of fashion as these films were made (Haskell Wexler was the last cinematographer to win an Oscar for working specifically in monochrome), but his work on these movies is a reminder that whatever the fashion, it can always be trumped by serious talent.