Felicity

When I was twelve or thirteen, my family first got cable. One hundred channels right there at our fingertips. For the first time, we had access to MTV (still a novelty), HBO (R rated movies!!!) and Cinemax. It was the latter that would prove to be prophetic in my life, as I soon discovered that on Friday nights, after 10:00PM, Cinemax showed softcore erotica. My parents, I'm sure, would have preferred me not to view these movies, but they trusted me enough to assume that if it was something I knew I should not watch, I'd turn it off. For the most part, they were right. But when it came to FELICITY, I had no choice but to bend the rules.

FELICITY is an obscure Australian/Chinese co-production which deserves a lot more recognition than it has ever received. It is just as intensely sensual now as it was when I first saw it twenty years ago, staring wide eyed at the TV.

It tells the story of a young woman, Felicity (Glory Annen), who is attending a finishing school for girls. Her budding hormones are slowly driving her wild, as she finds herself uncontrollably turned on by watching her classmates in the showers, or even being spied upon by horny local boys and groundskeepers. Her only outlet for these desires are a few unfulfilling trists with her schoolmates. Her salvation comes in the form of a free trip to Hong Kong, courtesy of Dad. She travels to China, where she is shown the sights--and the night life--by a young Asian woman (Jodi Flynn). And so begins an Emmanuelle-esque odyssey of sex and self-discovery.

What is so amazing about FELICITY is how it manages to steer clear of sleaze and seediness without ever shying away from explicit scenes of eroticism. The movie is chock full of sex scenes, including quickies on the bus, in an elevator and a hallway, a very long Asian bathhouse sequence, Felicity spying on her aunt and uncle making love, and an intensely erotic sequence in which she is taken from behind by a man she never even sees, while watching her friend engaged in her own makeout session.

This may all sound extremely sordid, but somehow the filmmakers manage to keep it from ever becoming a sleazefest, as most of the sex scenes are portrayed as innocent, experimental encounters. Felicity eventually meets a nice guy (Christiopher Milne), and soon discovers that, while sex itself is great, it's much better when it's with someone you love. The movie definitely has a more European attitude toward sex; in other words, sex is a normal, healthy part of life, which exists to be experienced and savored, an attitude which has been buried under sensationalism, puritanism and conservatism in America, if it ever existed here at all.

FELICITY is worth seeking out if only to behold the vision of female sensuality that is Glory Annen, a lovely young woman who looks like a cross between Traci Lords and Kate Winslet. Annen is one of those wonderfully likeable actresses of the late 70s/early 80s like Diane Franklin or Judy Aronson whom one wishes had moved on to bigger and better things. Alas, although she currently runs a successful casting agency in London, Annen fell into obscurity after a few film appearances in the early 80s. It's a shame, she should have been a star.

Anyone who enjoys a good erotic movie without the sleaze should try and get their hands on a copy of this masterpiece of soft core cinema. It may seem naive by today's standards, but after such cynical and paint-by-numbers "eroticism" like RED SHOE DIARIES and Cinemax's current After Dark line up, it's a breath of fresh air.

This kooky and kool soft core skin flick I remember seeing as a teenager on the old Private Screenings channel. It's the kickaxe story of a sweet, fresh young thing's sexual awakening in the mysterious Orient. I fell head over heels in love and lust with the main actress Glory Annen in this film when I first saw it. She only did a few films besides this, "Spaced Out", "Alien Prey" etc...but this was definitely her crowning achievement. I guess she stopped acting cos I haven't seen her in anything in years. It's too bad, cos she was so absolutely gorgeous! She wasn't your typically busty, perfect looking Hollywood bimbo, but that's what I liked about her! Who wants to like the girls that everyone likes? Not me! You can keep Pamela Anderson Lee, I like women that look like women, not Barbie dolls. I'll take Glory any day of the week!

I enjoyed this mostly - not for the sex scenes which were par for the course, but as a 70s time capsule. I liked the protagonist, Felicity- she was pretty but not gorgeous, naive but sexy too. The story was a bit silly but I enjoyed the scenes in Hong Kong, especially the contrast between the rich and touristy areas and the poor people living on the water. I imagine too that girls and women would have been treated in ways portrayed here in the late 1970s (I was a child then). In all, it was a decent watch, mainly as a kind of snapshot of those days - I also liked the clothes! I gave a reasonable 6 stars out of 10.

If Merchant Ivory had set out to make a Russ Meyer's style film, this would be the result. The movie manages to walk a tightrope between it's brainless-ness, it's soft core porn, it's paper thin "plot" and somehow through it all doesn't come off as exactly sleazy. Calling it "sensual" feels wrong and somehow lends it more credibility than it probably deserves but all the same it's not exactly crass either. A weird little balancing act that pays off by being, if not great, than something better than the filmmaker's intended. Not good, not bad, just is.

Felicity is essentially an Australian ripoff of Emmanuelle with a good measure of Histoire d'O, Fear Of Flying and the collected works of David Hamilton thrown in. The movie isn't exactly trying to hide its paragons -- instead when young Felicity witnesses a copulating couple on a jetliner (like in Emmanuelle), she describes this scene to a friend as "just like in that movie, Emmanuelle". In case anyone hadn't noticed.

Felicity is your average innocent finishing school girl (magna cum laude in "Ballet In Very Skimpy Costumes" and "Showering With The Gardener Getting A Good Shufti") on her odd trip to Southeast Asia to explore her sexuality. And get laid. This sounds like a movie which will just go through the motions, but the movie surprised me by being pretty good nevertheless. In fact, although Felicity follows the road most traveled and leaves out no softcore stereotype (including the sponge bath at a Chinese brothel (which in this case is partially staffed by blondes)), it's a rare case of a copy improving on the original.

Much of the accolade is due to the actress playing the heroine, Glory Annen. She's pretty and natural, and she plays the difficult role of the saucy ingénue with great aplomb and enthusiasm. I was especially impressed by her voiceovers, her husky voice is like aural Viagra. And dramatically she is well matched by her love interest, played by Chris Milne.

Unusually for a softcore movie, the story is surprisingly subtle and convincing, and at least gives some consideration to the female perspectice. It's obviously not exactly the DA Pennebaker type of realism, and I'd urge anyone watching this movie to use condoms for Christ's sake if you must have casual sex on a Chinese brothel junk, but Felicity does have bad experiences (a lousy "first time"), inhibitions and desires, and she wants to both have sex, and love and emotions.

What sets it even further apart from Emmanuelle is the omission of intellecto-philosophical blatherings and swinger-"what gives her pleasure gives me pleasure, especially if can have carnal knowledge of the crème of the crop of Thai prostitutes and their younger sisters in the meantime"-ideology. And whereas Emmanuelle is pretty much game for anything depraved old men are into, Felicity is slightly less kinky and make-believe; and also there are no rape scenes and dungeons.

Yep, you'll even be able to watch this with your girlfiend or wife without risking her mentioning it in the divorce proceedings one week later.