The Freudian Thing

Hailing from the last remaining months before hardcore broke, THE FREUDIAN THING is one of those slapdash, cheapie "beaver" flicks that sprung up as the last vestiges of film censorship were about to fall away. Like most of these films, it has sub-poverty row production values but a weird lo-fi charm all its own.

Alain Patrick, writer-director-star of the fascinating but not entirely successful skin flick expose BLUE MONEY, stars as (and under the pseudonym) Thomas Jordan, a photographer with a fixation on S&M. Picking up a pretty blonde on the beach, he manages to get her back to his place, where her inhibitions loosen quickly once he offers her money to be photographed.

Later, we join Patrick in the middle of another photography session, this time with two women. After cavorting around in the backyard, Patrick gets them to head inside, where he photographs them in a lesbian scene.

Still unable to forget the blonde, Patrick tracks her down on the beach and convinces her to make a return visit. Seems she was such a quick study the last time, she actually scared him off with a proposal that they play a game in which one person is given complete control over the other. While Patrick protested before, it seems he can't get the thought out of his mind, and he implores her to play the game with him now. Picking up a second woman en route, they finish the film playing this weird game of sexual spin-the- bottle, with Patrick's full array of whips, chains, and other instruments of torture at their disposal.

Possessing only the barest whisper of a plot, FREUDIAN THING, like a lot of softcore cheapies, is padded out by endless footage of people walking along beaches, pulling into driveways, and languidly staring at each other. The film takes place in only about two locations, and omits sync sound entirely, opting for weird, echo-y, doesn't-even-try-to-match-the-lips post-dubbing, itself used sparingly. The cinematography, while not always in focus, nevertheless possesses a strangely ethereal quality that becomes oddly compelling. "Bolero" is looped endlessly, and becomes the film's de facto theme music.

While all of these elements sound like obstacles to enjoyment, a strange, trance-like magic sometimes occurs when they coalesce. While no masterpiece (it really is quite dull to be honest), the film nevertheless achieves a unique, dreamlike rhythm, with the sluggish pace, haphazard cinematography and elliptical, barely-there story line producing an interesting, erotic stream-of-consciousness vibe. It helps that the filmmakers chose an excellent selection of classical hits - people are still listening to this stuff hundreds of years later for a reason - as the music often helps give a greater sense of drive and purpose to images that, coupled with a different soundtrack, would come off as irredeemably meandering. Similarly, while the photography often lacks finesse, it nevertheless just as frequently strives for some interesting and more experimental effects, featuring off-kilter framings and shots that slowly, slooooooowly rack focus onto an object in the fore- or background in the manner of a student art film. Again, it's not polished, but it's interesting nevertheless, and often oddly beautiful.

The cast in general looks good, and it was a particularly nice surprise to see the handsome Patrick in the role of the photographer, as he's got a great body and pairs well with the various women. While ridiculously tame by today's standards (the S&M stuff is hardly convincing), THE FREUDIAN THING is nevertheless an interesting pseudo-art film time capsule, and for those so inclined is definitely worth a viewing on a lazy Sunday afternoon.