Les plaisirs interdits

i watched this in english as the 'dark side of love'.

both the dubbing and the sleeve conceal the (crucial) information that the lead female and male characters are brother and sister, referring to patrizia as a 'governess'.

while not a great film (some of the setting is lazy and a few of the scenes use nudity to cover for slack characterisation) it is a film with several near unique virtues.

the sub-incest theme is not handled pruriently, instead the reticence of the two lead characters pushes them towards a talked flirtation (patrizia's brother talks her into a series of sexual adventures, she in turn talks to him about her sexual history).

adding a clearly imaginary dimension to a straight skin-flick produces something a lot richer than either would have been on its own.

definitely a must watch, if only for the way it makes you re-evaluate your response to so many other erotic movies