Chastity

Cher is agreeably pithy and cynical as a runaway named Chastity (she got the name from the dictionary). She's a wiseass, she's adorable, she's moody, she tosses off quips and straight lines like a jaded pro. This was Cher's third movie proper (following "Wild On The Beach" and "Good Times") and it's fun to see her in Cleopatra eye-makeup and her old nose. So many bad things have been said or written about this film that I half-expected a disaster, but it's clear right from the beginning the movie is visually expressive and evocative. Directed by someone named Alessio de Paola (an alias?), one tends to suspect writer-producer Sonny Bono held the reins, and if so he has a genuine feel for border towns and nowhere-places where people are cheerfully giving but eventually want payback. The picture begins to sag a bit in the middle when Cher tries her hand at prostitution and has a lesbian encounter with the cathouse madam (lots of fingers touching and wind through the trees, that kind of thing). But I certainly admired the film's gritty quality and easy pace. For her part, Cher concocts a true original in our heroine, talking to herself in the third person ("So, Chastity old girl, whaddya wanna do now?") and when her question to a gentleman bedfellow is met with a surprising answer, she tells him quietly in the dark, "I'm smiling." **1/2 from ****

I have watched this movie several times and get more out of it each time I watch it. Whether artistically or what the movie conveys.Cher in her 1st solo movie.Screenplay by Sonny. He used many things about Cher's life and put them in to his screenplay.The pre-Cher,that is. The opening sequence shows an outline of Cher's head with many images running through it,reminds me of how many things I think about and how they get shuffled about.Do we get answers to them? We see Cher running.What is she running towards or away from. We don't know that until the end until we get the story. Chastity is an old enough to runaway.At that time,there were many runaways from whatever they may have experienced in their home life. She uses men.Her wits. Her sharp tongue.Her curiosity about life.She uses the streets to survive by any means. Yes,Chastity is looking for the love she craves for.When she gets it she is afraid and runs. She makes her way to Mexico.Ends up in the hands of a madam.With the madam,I believe she is looking for the love from her own mother. She gets it but this woman wants more.Chastity runs back to the lawyer wanna be.She seems settled but her she can't escape her past that happened at an early age and we find out why she runs. Its no female version of "MIDNIGHT COWBOY",but does ask a lot questions and how we would handle it if we were in her situation or whatever makes us run or stay.Some uses the street to survive.Others use the streets to get off. We all look for love. Some people don't get it. Some feel they don't deserve to be loved because of whatever they had encountered.

Sonny Bono, in his autobiography "And the Beat Goes On," maligned his own debut as a writer/producer of serious cinema. But "Chastity" does not deserve a bad reputation: on the contrary, the film is a well-thought out and entertaining exploration of a runaway (played engaging by Cher in her first film as a dramatic actress) trying to discover herself, and in the process, find out what life is all about.

While at times the film strives to be a little too philosophical (it is clear that Bono wanted to make a statement), the film is both visually and aurally creative. From the opening sequence in which a montage of Chastity's thoughts flash through a sketch of her profile and the subsequent telephoto shot of her running towards the camera (she wants to go somewhere - but ends up going nowhere!), to the scene in which she wanders through a Mexican brothel, "Chastity" always keeps the viewer interested in the film itself, and more importantly - caring about its young protagonist.

The film is low budget - and possibly due to casting constraints some of the actors seem rather stiff - but overall the low budget helps to give "Chastity" more of a realistic look. The movie was obviously not filmed on sets - but instead on real locations - and the camerawork at times even gives it a "cinema verite" feel.

Of course, Sonny Bono was primarily a song writer and producer, and his use of music (most of which he wrote) is creative. The title theme is a haunting, beautiful composition that must have been influenced by Ennio Morricone and the music he wrote for Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. For those who may be familiar with the Atco soundtrack album, the music works very nicely in the context of the film.

In any case, "Chastity" is no masterpiece, but it is an entertaining (though downbeat) film that deserves to make its way onto a commercial video release. Bono deserves a lot of credit for writing, producing and scoring the film (and according to his autobiography he even edited a good portion of it). And as the soundtrack is out of print, it would give the viewer the opportunity to hear the Bono theme music and the classic opening tune "Band of Thieves."

In Cher's first attempt in a dramatic role she is found drifting through her young teenage life searching for her identity.She hitch-hikes to Mexico picking up truck-drivers as well as a boyfriend along the way.Her dysfunctional family and abuse follows her ,haunting her as she lives out her escapades wearing the same top and jeans till it makes you a bit nauseous! Her foray into the comfort of lesbianism,is short-circuited by her traditional American values,and Chastity tries the "straight life" one more failed time.The script is trite,and the story jaded .Cher has said the rough stuff was excluded,as Sonny Bono couldn't stand to see his wife do "those things". All in all a cool 60's trip,with an amateurish and weird aura! Chasity later became the name of Cher's daughter conceived during this movie!

I never got to see this (1969) movie with Cher in it until recently and I'm so glad I did. The interesting thing about this movie is how it's much like Flashdance(1983), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider(2001)and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within(2001). Because it draws you so much into following the appealing girl that no one else or anything going on in the movie really matters. This movie was really ahead of it's time as it fits in with how the fore-mentioned movies are made today; the rushing from scene to scene with what seems like no storyline. Even the Chasity character was just as unpredictable as the ending. What I liked about the movie is how it captured & preserved Cher's beginning beautiful essence & appeal, as with close-ups of her glowing face, lustrous long black hair, very attractive hands and light sultry voice. Possibly the reason why the film didn't make it big starting out is cause people just couldn't understand or relate to what was going on in the movie at the time. This show is more of a guy flick movie. Even though I don't particularly care for the story, I would watch it again just to see Cher's likeness.