Patricia, un voyage pour l'amour

This Euro sex farce was popular thanks to leading lady Anne Parillaud, with her silly adventures verging on slapstick hardly of interest -more the nudity and simulated sex scenes. It's one of Hubert Frank's lesser movies in this genre -filmed as a real movie but ridiculous.

A pioneer in creating lavish-looking, globe-hopping sex movies on moderate budgets, his greatest achievement was "Vanessa", starring Olivia Pascal, perhaps the best of hundreds of sex films inspired by the financial success of "Emmanuelle".

Anne Parillaud was immortalized as the title star of Luc Besson's "La Femme Nikita", the often copied and action classic, making her one of the most successful actresses to graduate from sexploitation to mainstream cinema.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't regularly watch brain-dead Euro-sex films (and won't know what they're in for), but by the standards of that generally dim-bulb genre this is pretty OK. It's directed by German sexpolitation director Hubert Frank, who did the superior "report"-film "Unfaithful Wives" and the memorable "Emmanuele" knock-off "Vanessa" (both currently available on legitimate DVD). It also features French actress Anne Parillaud, who later found mainstream success in movies like "La Femme Nikita" and "Innocent Blood". Even in her more "respectable" efforts, brunette beauty Parillaud managed to have full-frontal nude scenes, so naturally she has even MORE of them here.

Her character, of course, is a complete nit-wit, a spoiled heiress who brags to the media that she keeps in shape by "making love". Her father doesn't approve of her lifestyle and hires a handsome adventurer to lure her away from her no-good fiancée. But after he unexpectedly dies, leaving her his entire estate, she begins to suspect that one of her two paramours along with some members of her goofball family may be trying to kill her. . .

This movie very much resembles "Vanessa". Instead of being spanked by nuns as Olivia Pascal is in that film, Parillaud's character at one point is chased half-naked through a monestary by horny monks and then hides topless in a confessional booth (much to the consternation of the father-confessor). There's also a similar incest thing going on with her family. Like "Vanessa", "Patrizia" has an extended and completely gratuitous lesbian scene with a blonde female cousin (named "Pussy"), who in turn has sex with another male cousin while someone is trying to drown "Patizia" in the surf. There's lots of other madcap adventures as Patricia gets rides by flashing her breasts, flies around in a stolen helicopter, and helps members of her family finance a hilariously cheap-ass sword-and-sandals movie. Of course, the whole thing is dumb as hell and mostly just an excuse to bare acres of female flesh (and no small amount of male flesh), but what else would you expect from movies like this. . ?

An uplifting tale of a wealthy heiress who just wants to be loved, "Patrizia" achieves nothing less than the culmination of European cinema's unfulfilled promise. Anne Parillaud's youthful exuberance is perfect for the title role, elevating the film to a plateau beyond the reach of mundane 1-10 rating scales. Likewise the fortunate viewer will doubtless be elevated by the sheer joie de vivre indelibly etched into every fiber of this stunning motion picture. Alas, some may be dismayed by the gratuitous nudity, lesbian incest, or even the insinuation of jungle-girl/gorilla-suit-wearing-boy romance. This, however, can be readily rectified by prompt removal of any superfluous objects(heads, thumbs, etc.) from crucial bodily passageways. Regardless, someday this richly rewarding, seldom-seen masterpiece of minimalist excess will take its place alongside the great works of the cinematic art.

Nothing too striking about this film at all unless you are a hard core fan of Anne Parillaud of La Femme Nikita. You get to see her in all of her birthday suit glory which may interest some of you. But if you are looking for story, this is one of many sexually geared films that ask the question "why bother?"

This is Anne Parillaud's sexiest film ever, and in my opinion, her very best. But she is not the only one that's exceptional, Brigitte Stein, who plays her cousin, has the two most erotic scenes in the film. She has a lesbian love scene with Parillaud that's very sensual. Later she's making love with her boyfriend on the beach, very hot! Definitely recommended!