Die Verführung

While this good film is no masterpiece, it certainly has earned its place in Hollywood lore. First of all, the screenplay was co-written by Bobbie Gentry. She hand picked Herman Rauncher( Summer of Forty Two) and spent weeks helping him with the screenplay Belinda( the stripper in the film) is a song from Bobbie's masterpiece album, PatchWork. Benjamin( the imaginary childhood friend) started out life as a Bobbie Gentry song too. Her vision is all over this film. Her grandparents farm in Mississippi even served as the back-drop for the story.Billie Joe is the first gay character portrayal in film history without a hint of stereotying. He is full of real depth and humanity. On a production budget of 1 million dollars, this film had a box office run of 50 million. Business savy Bobbie Gentry still owns 10% of it in her deal with Warner Brothers. Because of its success,Coal Miners Daughter would receive a huge production budget in 1979.

If this is truly supposed to be an adaptation of the Bobbie Gentry song, it makes utterly NO sense. I'm gay, so I'm usually sensitized toward picking gay references out of pop culture, but to make Billy Joe in the film struggle with his sexuality is fairly ridiculous.

If you read the lyrics to Bobbie Gentry's song, it seems pretty darn obvious that what the narrator and Billie Joe are throwing off the Tallahatchee Bridge is their out-of-wedlock baby.

Just Google search the lyrics, listen to the song, and see if that interpretation doesn't make much more sense than how the movie presents the story.

This comment is provoked by one made earlier by someone who seemed to feel the film unsalvageable. It might not be a masterpiece, or even particularly memorable, but this Southern boy had little trouble identifying with a boy trying to cope with his deepening feelings for a lovely young lady in the arch-conservative South, and of the young lady whose family opposed the union with the appalling callous intolerance and ignorance that seems epidemic in deep rural South. It's worth the rental fee if you find it at the video store.

It has been a long time since I saw this movie. I always read very negative reviews of it, but I always thought that the photography and sound were beautiful. It was my impression that Max Baer Jr. was making a movie about how beautiful the rural South is. Of course a movie based on a rather enigmatic song is doomed to storyline problems, but as a mood piece, I think it was a great success.

I recall seeing this movie when it first came out - I was surprised at how empty the theater was. This is a movie based upon the beautifully charismatic song by Bobby Gentry from the 60's.

I thought the storyline was very engaging and realistic. It touches on a subject which may put some people off, but it is done in a mature way and isn't shown on-screen. A slice of life from the rural deep south. Easy on the eye and easy on the ear. I remember the acting performances being very good. For those of us who haven't experienced this type of upbringing, it was a good insight.

The song itself, is one of the great songs of 60's. For me the movie worked well. I could feel the long hot summers and the simplistic lifestyle and also showed you some of the darker side of life which was kept very quiet. It's a pity it never comes round on TV - it obviously wasn't a hit at the box office, but don't let that cloud your judgment. I think it's worth seeing. If you like Fried Green Tomatoes and The Trip To Bountiful, there's no reason to believe that you won't enjoy this.