L'usignolo e l'allodola

One of the unwritten rules for sex films is to depict sex as something enjoyable - perhaps it is a guilty pleasure and some punishment may be afoot, but a pleasure nonetheless. Another is that a once initiated sexual encounter always goes ahead - the punters loath prickteasing.

This film dares touching these rules. The story resolves around an upper middle class family during the summer holidays. They are desperately trying to have a good time, and the emphasis is here on "desperately", because they are just not very at good at it. Sex is the only thing that overcomes their boredom, but even that rarely suffices. This lethargic lot is very hard to excite - the only time anyone got really upset was mother Hildegard when her husband's mistress told her at the family diner table that she was now sleeping with her teenage son as well.

Make no mistake: this is a softporno and nothing else, it does not have a message of any kind. But it is much less predictable than the average genre flick and that makes for much more interesting viewing.

Note: the UK release has an attempted rape scene (Pauli on Ivanna) cut, which is a bit of a shame as it explains the family's subsequent trip to Italy.

As a Sylvia Kristel fan, I waited years to view this obscure West German film, as the title is quite rare. But wow, was it worth the wait! This was worlds better than what I was expecting. An erotic film, that attempts the difficult mix of humor and romance...and succeeds on both counts. The story centers on the handsome young student Paulie, on holiday in the gorgeous Swiss Alps, and on a mission to leave his innocence behind, and to become a man. Surrounded by decadent, beautiful older women, but the lovely Andrea (Sylvia Kristel) is the girl that truly captures his heart. Betrayed by a close friend, and later by his own self indulgent prick of a father, Paulie becomes more confused and angry about his situation.

"Julia," titled after the character Juliet, of Shakespeare fame, covers all the bases of coming of age drama; betrayal, sexual frustration, loss of innocence, and both the joy, and sadness that can come from the first sexual experience. Nice surreal touches are included here as well, especially when it focuses on this kid's off-the-wall, wacko family! My side hurt from laughing so much at the absurd situations and predicaments these people find themselves in.

I have to say, I absolutely love this film, the story, the characters/the gorgeous cast, the pretty cinematography and the wonderful artistic touches etc, and especially the bizarre comedic elements which made this a fun experience. There are some powerful emotional scenes too, that I was not expecting, such as the "love" scene filmed inside the Colosseum in Rome! That was heartbreaking, and awful..a betrayal that nobody should ever have to endure. I'm happy to find this gem, and look forward to showing it to friends. Highly recommended..

This might be called a West German attempt to capture the success of Emanuelle. Sylvia Krystel stars in the title role also.

'70s were the time of sexy older women who were willing to experience better sex in their lives beyond what they can get within their marriage. Success of the movie "Emanuelle" sort of gave permission to bring this concept into movie making. Julia is almost a carbon copy of the format of Emanuelle if only the backdrop wasn't so exotic.

The movie captures the atmosphere of the '70s extremely well. Everyone was looking for a sexual encounter with a sexy women which was available due to extreme physical appeal of women born in the '40s.

The movie gets it right, and it's an enjoyable look at the various situation people wished they were in during that period. The movie is made very well, and is worth the watch.

When finally viewing this, I found the whole exercise, one straining bore. We have a girl desperate to lose her virginity (a younger Sylvia Kristel). She falls for a boy her age, also inexperienced, his dad letting his mistress giving him some pointers but ultimately failing. Seriously folks, this scenario has been done to death in so many other films, especially around 70's time. But here it's done with such uninteresting characters, you don't give two hoots about any of em'. It doesn't have much story either, the surrounds kind of bringing back the ones in Erotic Sex Games, a much better adult title, you'd have an almost nil chance of attaining. Sex hungry Kristel, so angered by her lover, holding back, becomes violent too, like clawing at his face. I couldn't stand the big haughty mistress, either. Julia isn't a film I'd watch again. I remember it as such a disappointing view, where not much happens, a limited adult film in many ways, where The Emmanuelle series is a much better pick. I honesty regretted hiring this one. Trust me, leave this one where it belongs-on the shelf.

There is nothing even remotely interesting or particularly arousing in this boring piece of soft-core sex trash.The only reason to watch it is lovely Sylvia Kristel from "Emmanuelle" and "Private Lessons".The sex scenes are strictly soft-core and rather uninteresting.The last sex scene on tennis court in the rain is pretty good,though.The acting is mediocre and the film is loaded with some truly annoying and laughable characters.Sylvia Kristel provides some nudity,but there is not enough T&A for my liking."Julia" is a pretty obscure film,so if you're a fan of cheerful exploitation you may give it a look.Just don't expect something really arousing,because this film is just average.Watch Joe D'Amato's sleazy sexploitation movies or Walerian Borowczyk's erotic stuff instead.My rating:4 out of 10.