Les Amazones

A sexually-liberated (if not terribly explicit) peplum which inconceivably attracted an assortment of talent - director Young, cinematographer Aldo Tonti, production designer Mario Garbuglia, composer Riz Ortolani - but the result is jaw-droppingly awful, so much so that I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard (for all the wrong reasons) during a film! The warriors of the title are man-hating (i.e. lesbian) Amazonian women who must go through the 'humiliation' of mating once a year with strong men (settling on a garrison of the Greek army, despite their well-known reputation as homosexuals) in order to bear females to continue their line!

It's well and good that the film doesn't take itself too seriously - as can be witnessed from the self-deprecating text which opens and closes the picture - but that doesn't excuse the sheer insanity of some of its concepts: the Amazonians being able to avoid an ambush or detect an intruder in their camp because one of them is allergic to males and has a sneezing fit whenever she senses their presence; the mating is preceded by a ritual of anti-male chanting that is supposed to 'insulate' the women in the call of their duty, thus making submission (even if temporary) to the opposite sex tolerable. Also worth mentioning are the Olympian challenges between the two armies (which the men invariably lose?!), not one but two all-nude wrestling matches - no doubt inspired by the notorious male equivalent which forms the centerpiece of Ken Russell's WOMEN IN LOVE (1969) - between the current Amazonian Queen and her jealous and scheming rival (belatedly revealed as her own sibling, but which doesn't prevent them from subsequently becoming lovers!!), the stupid mugging of a love-struck servant girl who drinks an aphrodisiac prepared for the Queen by the conspirators...not forgetting the ludicrous art direction (everything in the Amazonian court, including the Queen's throne and scepter, seems to be made in the shape of an axe for no apparent reason!), the incongruous costumes (from the much later Roman Empire era), or the battle scenes in which the fighting Amazonians are barely-concealed stuntmen in drag!!

Apparently, LE GUERRIERE DAL SENO NUDO (which literally translates to THE BARE-BREASTED WARRIORS but was known internationally as THE AMAZONS) was a rival production with the equally irresistible-sounding LE AMAZZONI - DONNE D' AMORE E DI GUERRA aka BATTLE OF THE AMAZONS (1973), directed by Al Bradley...er...Alfonso Brescia!

The storyline is rather stupid, with the silly anti-Women's Lib back ground (women can not do without men, see…). But the movie in its original full unrated version contains two or three of the most erotic soft core lesbian scenes ever. The women are strong but very good looking (this was shot before any silicon stuff came to pollute nudity). The camera work is of course excellent (director Terence Young). The first memorable scene consists of a topless oil wrestling fight to decide who the next queen will be. There is also a long savage nude fight with the same competitors which ends with cute kissing. This probably the only mainstream movie to picture women wrestling with a strong erotic overtone.

A very strange and anachronistic movie of 1973; it feels like it should have been made a decade before, at the height of the sword and sandal boom. As for Terence Young directing...who knows?! I saw the English dub, which is pretty bad, but then so is this overlong and rather aimless film. It highlights Amazon society, following their new queen as she engages with a male tribe for procreation, but the acting is limited at best and the dialogue pitiful. Some nice acrobatics here and there and one battle scene, but the focus throughout is on showing skin, most notably in an explicit nude catfight, so this is more a skin flick than anything else.

If you want to see some naked women, riding horses, throwing spears, female warriors fighting each other or with men, or Angelo Infanti eating an apple in almost any scene, this is the film for you. A pile of barren beauty contest and they gave for making this film. There is even a pathetic ballet scene that takes place in a cave. The whole movie is boring. Except maybe the fighting scene between Antiope(Alena Johnston, a beautiful blonde) and Orytheia(a not so beautiful Sabine Sun but, she was the wife of the director, Terence Young). Luciana Paluzzi, the beautiful Fiona from Thunderball(directed by the same Terence Young), has a small role as Phaedra . Riz Ortolani's music (which is very talented) is not great in this one.

This movie does NOT take itself seriously, I figured that out in the first three minutes. An opening title informs us "This movie happened, if it happened at all, about 3000 years ago." That means it takes place in 1000BC. What's wrong with that? Well the heroes are Roman soldiers and the Roman empire did not begin until 750BC. Therefore these soldiers represent an empire that will not even exist for over 2 centuries! I'll bet no one went to see this movie for a history lesson though. The real heroes are Amazon warriors who have to mate with men once a year or they will die out. Practicing selective breeding they only mate with tough Roman soldiers and they make love while chanting "Men are pigs, men are filth." (Which is something I and the other girls in my sorority did in college. I guess some traditions never die.) No monsters, dragons or giants. The battle scenes are okay and there is a mud wrestling scene that all the men will enjoy. If you want a plot that makes sense, or at least pretends to, try any of the HERCULES movies.