La fine dell'innocenza

The reason that determined me to see this film is the name of Massimo Dallamano, the director of photography of "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More", two absolute masterpieces directed by Sergio Leone. And, the same Massimo Dallamano directed "Dorian Gray"(1970), a very good movie starring Helmut Berger. Plus other two thrillers, Colt 38 Special Squad (1976)Quelli della calibro 38(original title), with Marcel Bozzuffi, and What Have You Done to Solange?(1972)Cosa avete fatto a Solange?(original title), with Fabio Testi. But what a disappointment this "Blue Belle"! Trying to make some kind of "Emmanuelle" on his own, the film is a total failure. Annie Belle is awkward (as all the other players), not having nowhere the charm of Sylvia Kristel. Everything is bad, the story, the actors, it's just a waste of time.

You certainly can't accuse this film of not covering its "erotic movie" bases. It starts out with an adolescent girl (Annie Belle) being picked up from her finishing school by her "father". There's some definite shades of "Lolita" here. But despite having been with this "father" since she was 13, she's still (technically) a virgin as their relationship is still(sort of) platonic--so throw in a little "Baby Doll" too. They then travel to Orient, which can not help but evoke the then-recent softcore porn hit "Emmanuelle" (Belle herself would later star in the real-life Emmanuelle Arsan's directorial debut "Laure" and would play the "White Emanuelle" to Laura Gemser's "Black Emanuelle" in one of the rip-off Italian films). In Hong Kong, her "father" gets arrested for currency smuggling, and she ends up in the clutches of some jaded libertines, much like in "Eugenie" (the producer of this film, Harry Allan Towers, had produced the Jess Franco's superior version of that erotic tale).

Not that this story is entirely unoriginal--in an unusual plot twist the wife of one couple falls madly in love with the younger woman and has her husband seduce her while she listens on the phone (and has some very literal phone sex). And in the end, the young girl proves to be more independent-minded than all the aforementioned erotic heroines combined.

The Italian director Massimo Dallamano had kind of taken over Jess Franco's role of house director for eccentric producer Towers after the two latter men had a falling out. Franco had done some of his best work for Towers, but for Dallamano, who previously directed excellent films like "What Have You Done to Solange", the Towers productions were actually kind of a step down in both budget and quality. Still this isn't too bad. Interestingly, Belle herself (who was barely 18 at the time) is credited with the story. Fortunately, she's also credited with taking her clothes off a lot and showing off her magnificent body, most memorably where she rides around Hong Kong butt-naked on the back of a motorbike (I guess they don't have helmet laws there). I was a little disappointed though that while she started off the movie with long brown hair, she quickly reverted to her usual bad bleach-blond pixie cut. This isn't great, but it's worth a look.

Annie belle is very young in this coming-of-age feature. She and her 'Father' go on a business trip to Hong Kong. There she meets a bunch of socialites and learns how some adults behave. The plot and acting aren't too exciting, but Annie Belle is attractive and the foreign locale/scenery are appealing. The groovy soundtrack also adds a lot.

This movie is great! I love the way Maria Rohm acts as her part of Dr. Hondorus! It makes me think of hot summer days when the sun is setting and everyone believes in turkey sandwiches. I also believe this movie is the best film ever made! It shows how good of a director Steven Speilberg is! I hope some day that they'll release this on video! I will buy every copy available!