It was a serious attempt to show the developing sexuality of two schoolgirls and did not try to exploit its fact
Even by today's standards, the film is interesting and provocative
Therese and Isabelle are both attending the same girl's school
Therese is energetic, intelligent, and becomes a mentor for the innocent, naive, sweet Isabelle
She guides her through a number of exotic experiences, including a trip through an exclusive brothel, into her first lesbian liaison, and indirectly into her first heterosexual experience
The film does not exploit any sex, nor is there an abundance of nudity... The imagery is effective, but sometimes the camera lingers too long, and the story goes slowly
The director, Radley Metzger, went on to make a number of explicit erotic films under the name of Henry Paris
He always has extremely detailed stories, good acting, and very high standards of cinematography...
Artistically, however, this is perhaps his most complete
His later attempts supplied for entertainment, whereas "Therese and Isabelle" was a study into the nature of youthful eroticism...
