L'année des méduses

..and you will have a good idea of this film. I haven't seen it in years, might have been on Bravo before they went edited and commercial... Anyway, the plot summary doesn't do this film justice. This is an excellent trashy movie about a good little bad girl who does a lot of naked damage for no real reason other than some mommy issues. Truly textbook psych101 stuff but still fun to watch.

There is a much bigger story here than I'd spelled out in the script. Think about it. Don't be distracted by the nudity and undressing. That's not the story. Consider how did Chris get to know certain people when she was 16. How did her mom not know? Why is Dad acting so detached? Put all that together and the real story comes out. No, you are not led by the hand. No, you are not explained the most intriguing part of this drama. And no, you shouldn't act as though a topless beach club is risque in France. Just down from this club is a fully nude beach club. This is normal in Saint Tropez. No no no! Don't be distracted. Dig into this story and find the true villains. The first thing I said to my wife when the movie ended: now here's a movie that gives people a lot to consider when it's over.

Not for everyone: one could almost dismiss it as a soft sexploitation movie from the eighties. But no.

This is about an obsessive little girl who is turning into a woman. The characters around her are here to reflect the wicked light she is shining, and emphasize facets of her personality, as she is wrecking havoc around her.

It is all then about the sexual desires of women and men. How they cheat. Whom they love. What it is that they want. What they would do to get it. Only one character is "not normal " in this movie, and this is the scary part: all the others could be us to some degree.

One flaw in this movie: the voice-over on two occasions. Obviously the director could not find a way could convey the message. Pity. Otherwise, it would have a perfect little venomous movie.

Almost every review for this film asks: is this just an excuse to show beautiful topless women? If everyone keeps asking that it's because it is an excuse to show topless women. The only dramatic tension in this soufflé is while Valerie take her top or not? After a while this disappears since she's always topless for most of the film. The story is risible. The mother basically smokes and drinks throughout the movie (and takes her top off as well). The dramatic denouement at the end (don't worry, I won't spoil it) is so underwhelming and filmed in an uninspired manner that you only then realize that the filmmakers were truly only interested in showing topless women. They were too lazy to come up with something else. I like Valerie Kaprisky. There's something bold about her (she's clearly allergic to clothes) but when she has clothes on, one sorta has a hard time noticing her. It's then that one realizes she's ordinary.

The motivation for Kaprisky's character (Chris) is as unusual as the use of jelly fish in this movie. The box cover and the reviews for this 1984 sleeper showcase this movie as the sexiest and most controversial film since Last Tango in Paris. Although it has as much, if not more nudity, there is no passion. Year of the Jelly Fish is the story of a young girl, becoming a woman. But there is more to the story. Somewhat of a sex craved youngster, Kaprisky portrays an innocent girl who doesn't want to be innocent. Then again, sex is not her reward. There is an unexplained mom / daughter relationship that has its moments on screen, but overall fails to really explain the struggle between the two characters. The men that these two women share is a struggle in itself. Both characters want to be loved, then again, sometimes all it is is sex that drives them both.

The movie has a series of moments that keep Kaprisky fans watching. The rest of the movie tries to remain serious, but for todays audience, it fails to hold up. All in all, this is a must see for Kaprisky fans. It is one of her best and most "looked for" films in her career.