F. U. C. K. (Free Underground Cinema Kids)

Submission (1969)

*** (out of 4)

Jennifer Welles plays the troubled young Vicky who along with her boyfriend begins to seduce a woman who they are paid to take care of. Slowly Vicky begins to lose her mind even more and it takes a turn for the worse when a murder happens.

SUBMISSION is certainly one of the better softcore films from this era and I must admit that it really shocked me. Often times when I watch these movies I'm just hoping for something that holds my attention at least throughout all the nudity and sex scenes. This film is really well-made, which was the first shocker but the other shocking thing is that it actually holds your attention throughout the 73-minute running time.

Director Allen Savage doesn't give us any dialogue until the movie is nearly over and he really does build up a wonderful atmosphere by doing this. The film has a terrific score, a mixture of library tunes, and it also features some nice cinematography and some very good editing. As I said, this is an extremely well-made movie and the director uses this technical style to really build up the atmosphere and in return that helps keep the viewer glued to what's going on.

Welles, supporting a black wig, looks extremely good here so her fans will enjoy that. Her performances isn't the greatest but it certainly contains more meat that you'd typically get with a movie like this. The entire cast suit their roles just fine and this is another major plus. The film has a very weird sexuality that is quite erotic at times and its even a bit racy for a softcore picture. SUBMISSION will certainly appeal to fans of this type of picture.

Intended more for the soft core market than the art house this is nevertheless most intriguing. Possibly a bit too self consciously surreal to actually succeed entirely but it is very strange and whether or not some of the confusion between fantasy/flashback was intended, I found it pretty mesmerising. Whether I found it as hypnotic as the lovely leading lady who would go down on hands and knees and crawl across the room towards a man holding a Hershey bar, I'm not sure! Oh yes, and the film is highly erotic. The SM edge to everything means that the couplings are not the usual predictable, two stokes here, two strokes there etc and I felt there to be a real sense of menace amid the dreamlike scenario played out in, of course, in glorious black and white.