Gwendoline

Movie excess at its best. Ever imagined chariot races that were pulled by nude women? Well you can see it here. Directed by the same twisted mind that created Emmanuelle and The Story of O, he now makes a movie which is pure camp. From my opinion it was the perfect sendup of Raiders of the Lost Ark - only this time Indiana is woman and all the villans are large breasted women that romp around naked.

A beautiful woman hires an intrepid adventurer to help find her father, who has disappeared in the jungle while searching for a rare and priceless butterfly. Along the way they run into cannibals, a race of Amazon warriors and all the usual attractions one would expect to find in a lost jungle. That's pretty much all you have to know of the plot, which is mainly an excuse to show off scads of beautiful naked women, gorgeous Filipino scenery, some almost competent action scenes, and Tawny Kitaen. That about covers it. Director Just Jaeckin apparently put a fair chunk of the tons of money he made off his "Emanuelle" movies into this one, and it shows; the film doesn't look cheap, at least, and Jaeckin's photography shows off the film's best assets--including Tawny Kitaen's--to their best advantage. Go at it with the right attitude and this film can be a lot of fun.

The plot is pedestrian (Think "Wizard of Oz" meets "Story of O"), the acting no better than High School and the dubbing flat, but the visuals on this are very artistic. Not only the large amount of female nudity, but the sets and some of the camera angles, especially where Gwendolyn and Beth are being held back-to-back in the dungeon. There were more than a few scenes I wish would have been given more screen time. None of it is great cinema, but the artwork makes for great entertainment. The copy I saw seemed to have been hacked more than edited, perhaps to bring it in line with an "R" rating. I saw it on HBO shortly after it came out, and eagerly awaited a chance to purchase the video. I managed to get an ex-rental copy.

Gwendoline, from 'Emmanuelle' director Just Jaeckin, is an erotic comic-book action adventure (think Indiana Jones crossed with Barbarella, only with more nudity) wherein a gorgeous but innocent young woman (played by 80s rock-babe Tawny Kitaen) teams up with a roguish riverboat captain (Brent Huff) to locate her father, a scientist who went missing while looking for a rare butterfly in the hostile land of Yik-Yak.

A one-time fashion photographer, Jaeckin is more than capable of capturing a striking image, whether it be a beautiful vista, the sensuous curves of a woman, or the surreal sight of a bald, naked Amazonian chick being sucked up an down an industrial pipe, but he fails dismally at telling a story, either as writer or director. His terrible script is hampered by dreadful dialogue (not helped by a wooden cast) and his handling of many scenes, most notably the action, leaves much be desired, being unimaginatively executed and ultimately rather lifeless.

Despite all of this, however, the film still manages to be a reasonably entertaining experience—partly due to the silliness of the whole thing, partly because of the often excellent production design (much of which would not look out of place in a major Hollywood film) and some surprising violence, but mostly thanks to all of the S&M-laced nudity, especially from the lovely Kitaen, who can't act, but who has a great bod and isn't afraid to show it.

This is a very strange film. Half action/adventure; Half Comedy; Half Porno.....

But even if you can say this or that about the film, there´s TWO things that are outstanding with this film.

a) The Girl - Gwendoline, played by Tawny Kitaen. A very Beautyful and Sexy girl/young woman, whom i fell in love with.....

b) The Soundtrack. A great soundtrack by a French Composer Pierre Bachelet. When i found the soundtrack on record (LP), a few years after i´ve seen the film, i became very Happy.........