American Nudist is not what you will expect when you hear the term "nudist film." T. L. Young plays Taylor, a former nudist who claims he used to run a nudist club in his home town in Hawaii.
Influenced by the films such as "All That Jazz," and Bob Fosse's Joe Gideon, Taylor's women are a major influence in his life, from his college sweetheart Aymi (played by Simmin Yu,) who had been his first muse, to his former flame Angela (Alicia Arden) who runs a nude bed and breakfast (wow!), to his current lover Jennifer, (Magda Marcella) the film chronicles his inner struggle as a nude photographer no longer in touch with the nudist world except through his commercial work and newscasts of naked happenings he can't be a part of.
Taylor is always wearing a suit, even when he jumps into a swimming pool in a nudist resort. Fortunately, Angela has no qualms being naked, and is very clothes-free throughout most of the film.
His models are gorgeous, familiar faces such as Nicole D'Angelo, Josie Goldberg and Tiffany Bowyer, yet he feels depressed, burned out and uninspired. And juggling his relationships with his work and a philosophy he feels alienated from, it's no wonder why.
Case in point, he even delivers a monologue about a beautiful moment in his life, related to his nudist journey, to his cat, very likely because he can't confide that fact to a human being.
The picture quality of this film is beautiful and the way it's edited immediately brought those aforementioned films to mind. Those expecting the standard nudist fare of the sixties, be warned. This is not your grandpa's nudie cutie but a very stylized, introspective chronicle of a artist's life and his work.
Nicely done.
