Thérèse et Isabelle

I must admit, when I read the description of the genre on Netflix as "Steamy Romance" I was a little bit skeptical. "Steamy"? In a movie from 1968?? I was prepared for disappointment. And when I realized it was shot entirely in black & white, I knew my erotic hopes were dashed.

Boy, was I wrong! Not only does this film have all of the elements of a steamy romance -- the discovery of first love, fear of the secret being found out, a sudden unexpected end -- but at times this movie was downright erotic. You will soon forget that it is shot in black & white. The cinematography deserves every accolade it has received over the years. And the performances from the two stars (Essy Persson and Anna Gael) are intense and memorable. OK, so they're both in their mid twenties trying to play school girls. It's 1968. Do you really expect teenagers from the '60s to be able to effectively explore a lesbian love story like this? Many adult women were still trying to come to grips with their sexuality back then. Anyone looking for real teens here is expecting too much.

I think this movie was way ahead of its time. The level of eroticism was an unexpected pleasure; yet it still managed to leave a lot to the imagination, opting instead to give us poetic descriptions to add to what we were shown.

I have no doubt lesbians will identify with the characters here. As for you straight guys who love watching lesbians in action: Although it won't be all you expect, I don't think you'll be too, too disappointed.

This is a very good movie. Good example of a European film of it's time. Black and White? Yes, and for the dolts that can't seem to get through a movie without color, go back to cartoons.

Yes, the actresses do seem a bit long in the tooth, but the story is well paced, the cinematography very good, and all in all a pleasant movie.

If you're a lesbian, you'll appreciate this movie. If you're a straight man looking for a hot movie... go elsewhere and look for some porn; this ain't it.

If you're a movie lover and looking for a good representation of cinema with a lesbian theme, this is a good example. It's also a good example of European cinema in the late 60's even though the moviemaker is an American.

The older woman is the same actress as the supposed 17 year old who appears half way between these ages and is credible as neither. The Isabelle character is also mid late twenties. They are so ridiculously old that the entire film has no credibility. The voices sound like they are dubbed on. The scenes are all like the first take after everyone has learnt their lines. According to the story they get groiny but I just couldn't watch that far, it was too tortuous. On the basis of the first half hour I bet the sex is like watching paint dry as well. If you love your all talk French films I'm sure you'll get on with this 1 dimensional effort.

the author of the book, by the same title, should not have let her name be used for this movie. if you have read the book, this movie takes such a liberal interpretation of the actual events in the book and its spirit that the movie and book seem to have quite little in common except the title and some superficial details. the movie adds nothing, in terms of artistic merit, to the book's own literary achievement.

for those who have not read the book: you will also be disappointed. not only does the plot move at an incredibly slow pace, it doesn't offer anything more while it is moving slowly (like character development, for example). some viewers might be entertained by some of the graphic lesbian love scenes later on in the movie, but you might as well watch a showtime special for the stuff they show in therese and isabelle--its fairly tame and not imaginative at all.

I originally saw this film in 1968 at a pre-release press screening. It was in (apparently dubbed) French with English subtitles. I found the film charming, with a wonderful music score by Georges Auric. I subsequently saw the film at a local theater - in (apparently dubbed) English. The film had been cut with much of the lengthy erotic scenes trimmed. The dubbed dialogue was not only delivered poorly, but the banality of it was taxing. The French language version with subtitles lent a poetic effect to the film, although if I understood French perhaps it would have sounded as banal as the English.