The Image

So the question is, was Anne punished? Oh yeah. You can bet your ass Anne was punished in this movie. Young Anne is a bad little girl and you've got Sleazy Jean and Bossy Clair to tell her what's what. The Punishment of Anne aka The Image is a moderately sleazy film, but done in a sexy way. Usually when I think "sleazy" it reminds me of gritty, exploit flicks with a rape or two. But not here, TPoA has it's share of sleazy scenes, but overall like I said, it exudes more sexiness.

Not being a big fan of porn I really can't fill you in on any historical importance of this movie. I can't tell you if the main actors are famous porn & S/M stars. I can't even tell you if this is one of the better old school porns out there. Nevertheless I can tell you that this movie has a good amount going for it. For one, for me, this movie had me laughing. Quite a lot. For starters, to open the movie, you see Jean at a party making his rounds. But the funny thing about this scene is he'll just go up to one person at a time, say "Hello" and then a moment later say "Excuse me." "Hello.....Excuse me." Such silly behavior. One scene in particular where Anne is getting punished the first time by both Jean and Clair, Jean begins telling Clair to whip Anne in a rushed manner, and then a moment later he's laughing his head off in a insane manner. And I was laughing right along with him. To top that scene off, Jean looks down at Anne and says "You're about to reap the fruits of your labor." Now that line is pure gold. And like this comical yet sexy scene, the whole movie is filled with "too smart for it's own good" type of lines. There's are numerous scenes where you'll probably be shaking your head with a smile and this is where the movie shines brightest. But the movie does slow down towards the end with "harder" S/M scenes and this is where I got bored. If you're a big fan of porn or S/M you'll probably like this, but for me, they should have stuck to the "weird situation punishment".

Overall, I enjoyed The Punishment of Anne. Anne was played by a beautiful girl and Jean's dubbing, lines and expressions made me laugh at a good rate. The movie sometimes slows a bit between scenes, but if you have a funny bone for silly dialogue, you'll enjoy these scenes because Jean fills them with cheesy narration. So all in all, it was funny, sexy and pretty entertaining. The Punishment of Anne is a recommendable porno in my book.

Okay movie starring Carl Parker, that swarthy-looking guy from Radley Metzger's SCORE, which was better than this. It's well-made, like all of Metzger's movies, but it's hard to like unless you're into this kind of subject matter. There are some pretty funny moments, though. I particularly liked the intentionally obvious Freudian imagery that keeps cropping up. Actually, the whole movie is about as cheerfully un-P.C. as they get. Only in the '70s...

The Image (1975)

*** (out of 4)

Jean (Carl Parker) runs into an old friend (Marilyn Roberts) at a party and soon she's teaching him about her slave Anne (Rebecca Brooke) and before long both are taking part in the S&M practices. Radley Metzger's erotic film isn't going to be for everyone but those who enjoy watching these older adult movies should find this one here to have quite a few good touches. Metzger would push the hardcore genre more mainstream a couple years later with THE OPENING OF MISTY BEETHOVER and while this film here isn't nearly as good you can still see the blossoming of the young director as he was experimenting with more erotic films. I think the best thing about this movie is the direction by Metzger because he certainly isn't just trying to deliver some sort of bump and grind movie and instead he's pushing something more classy. Now I'm not going to sit here as some sort of snob and say this is better than your typical porn movie because it isn't. Those mindless sex pictures serve their purpose and I think a film like this one has its own purpose so comparing the two or ripping one while praising the other would be pointless. There's no doubt that this movie is extremely well made and there's a certain craft and style to appreciate. This is especially true with the editing, which really takes the movie to a whole new level. The way the sex scenes were edited gave them a certain atmosphere and really made you feel the dirty, erotic sense to all of it. The three actors all do fine work with their roles but it's doubtful people are coming to this for performances. I'm sure some might find some sort of message but to me THE IMAGE was simply a well-made porn film and there's nothing wrong with that.

I bought several erotic movies for my girlfriend and me and out of all of them I have found this one to be the best so far. The DVD has some scenes where there are lines in the picture but they do not take away from the movie, for being such an old movie it transferred well to DVD. I have to admit that I did not think that the movie would get so explicit in some of the scenes, but I think that just made it even better.

If you want a very erotic movie then this one is great. There are some scenes that are a little annoying, like screaming for five or so minutes, but overall it is great. I would not buy it if you are looking for a porno, but there are several scenes that you would see in a porno.

There's no point in serious argument about whether or not The Image is pornography, because it clearly is. Though it may not be considered hardcore pornography in the sense that there's no penetration shown on-screen, the sexual content is more explicit and shocking than any porn you've ever seen, to the point of going beyond arousing and into repulsive.

But The Image is also unmistakably art, and it's one of the few films that managed to merge the two successfully, much more so than the soft erotic dramas which were a dime a dozen in the 70's and 80's. Rather than just romanticizing sex, The Image is a disturbing and intelligent film about domination and sexual psychology, and in between the sex scenes you'll find surprising amounts of character development and a tight script (excluding the god-awful narration, which I could really do without); add to that excellent acting from the three leads - especially Rebecca Brooke, who truly sells her performance with her shockingly convincing face and body language (not to mention how gorgeous and sensual she is), and gorgeous cinematography which juxtaposes the brutal violence of the acts with the pastoral and serene French backdrops, to a truly eerie and enticing result.

It goes without saying that The Image isn't for everyone. It succeeds as pornography - being enticing and arousing even for those with barely even a fleeting whimsical interest in S&M - but it's also very disturbing and difficult to watch. But if you can stomach it, it's definitely recommended.