Camille 2000

OK, the pace is slow and the sex now looks tame, but Radley Metger's once-notorious Swinging Sixties update of the old romantic warhorse is worth sticking with - if only as a time-capsule of the decade that inspired it. The scene has shifted from Belle Epoque Paris to 'dolce vita' Rome, and the dying courtesan (Daniele Gaubert) is not a consumptive but a junkie. But she's still the 'Lady of the Camellias' - with flowers aplenty. Watch a vase of them zoom hilariously in and out of focus as her young lover (Nino Castelnuovo - whose career looked so promising in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg!) teaches her the true meaning of orgasm.

All jokes aside, this version is surprisingly close to the Alexandre Dumas fils novel, with its dark core of eroticism and death. Most of the sex takes place in Marguerite's stunning white boudoir - ceiling mirrors, chiffon drapes and invisible plastic chairs. At the film's end, our heroine is confined to an oxygen tent after her last fatal OD. Visually, the setting is more or less identical. Her on-and-off love affair with priggish young Armand reaches its 'climax' at an eye-popping S & M theme party. (Cue for aluminium Paco Rabanne dresses and copulation in a giant gold cage!) This slick Vogue-ish sadism is sleazy but not gratuitous: it mirrors the cruelty at the story's heart.

Sorry, I'm making all this sound like Art, which it's not. Metzger's direction is alternately stylish and ham-fisted, and as for the acting of Mlle. Gaubert...well, let's just say Garbo and Sarah Bernhardt can rest safely on their laurels. The supporting actors are the veritable cream of Eurotrash - Silvana Venturelli as scheming sex-pot Olympe, Roberto Bisacco as libertine Gaston, Eleonora Rossi-Drago as high-fashion procuress Prudence - but they have far too little to do. The real star of this film is set and costume designer Enrico Sabbatini. His work makes Austin Powers look like an exercise in restraint!

David Melville

The other comments I have read all seem accurate to me (except I don't think Maguerite is necessarily an aristocrat, but the poor protege of one). The innocent nudity, the gorgeous photography and glamorous Roman locations, the capturing of a moment of social freedom in the sixties, are all superb. Although the director has a reputation for making exploitation films, at least in the year 2000 it doesn't seem to me that this film qualifies as one, since the nudity, sex and drugs are relatively tame, and the film now reads as a serious dramatic effort, at least to me.

What I found fascinating about the film was the portrayal of the progress of the emotional relationship of Armand and Marguerite- it covers how they met, love won and lost several times, their emotional conflicts and life choices as a result of their feelings for each other. In this it seems to me highly realistic, perceptive and insightful. It captures the emotional life of the very wealthy, young and beautiful elite- joy, confusion, hedonism, love and also despair.

It follows the evolution of the relationship in such detail that, at times, I found the film dragging a bit, but this was a minor problem for me compared to the joy of seeing such a deep exploration of their relationship. Instead of the single roller-coaster ride of snipped-down Hollywood fare, we enter fully into another world by dwelling there through several different plot climaxes.

Metzger was a master at stretching a budget and providing nudie, erotic fair with dazzling production values. Remember that naked bodies were a pretty new commodity back in 1969 America and the eroticism that sizzles from the screen in this and other Metzger films comes from simply the idea that we are going to see people naked! And that usually means attractive females!! It is great to see something with such an innocent approach to titilation. Unlike many films and music videos today, where you just don't get to see much of anything, it delivers.

In addition, Metzger always toyed with kinky subject matter (check out "Lickerish Quartet") and that gave his films the edge over other American competitors. One of my favorite film-makers and very under rated. People who can't enjoy a Metzger film are generally too conservative in their tastes, ie "Titanic" = Best Picture.

I first heard about this film through its music. The late Piero Piccioni was one of Italy's finest composers from the hey day of Italian cinema in the 60's and 70's.

The write up for this movie descibes it solely in terms of sex and eroticism... but it so, so much more. It is like a wonderful painting depicting the heart wrenching trials and tribulations of two lovers, who spend a great deal of time hiding from the truth. Daniele Gaubert is superb in this, and you almost fall in love with her yourself (she, like her on screen persona, also had a tragic early death at the age of 44, from cancer). I am not a big fan of Metzger but this one is a must for all fans of lush 60's cinema.

It is how the 60's (the none 'Hippies' anyway) would like to be remembered.... ultra stylish, hedonisitic, with the heartache of love lost. (Let us pray Hollywood leaves this film be and not 'create' one of their awful remakes)

CAMILLE 2000

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision)

Sound format: Mono

Whilst visiting Rome, an amorous nobleman (Nino Castelnuovo) falls in love with a beautiful young libertine (Daniele Gaubert), but their unlikely romance is opposed by Castelnuovo's wealthy father (Massimo Serato), and Fate deals a tragic blow...

A sexed-up love story for the swinging Sixties, adapted from a literary source (Alexandre Dumas' 'La Dame aux Camelias') by screenwriter Michael DeForrest, and directed with freewheeling flair by Radley Metzger who, along with the likes of Russ Meyer and Joe Sarno, is credited with redefining the parameters of 'Adult' cinema throughout the 1960's and 70's. Using the scope format for the last time in his career, Metzger's exploration of 'la dolce vita' is rich in visual excess (note the emphasis on reflective surfaces, for example), though the film's sexual candor seems alarmingly coy by modern standards. Production values are handsome throughout, and the performances are engaging and humane (Castelnuovo and Gaubert are particularly memorable), despite weak post-sync dubbing. Though set in an unspecified future, Enrico Sabbatini's wacked-out set designs locate the movie firmly within its period, and Piero Piccioni's 'wah-wah' music score has become something of a cult item amongst exploitation devotees. Ultimately, CAMILLE 2000 is an acquired taste, but fans of this director's elegant softcore erotica won't be disappointed. Next up for Metzger was THE LICKERISH QUARTET (1970), which many consider his best film.