The Image

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Movie
German title The Image
Original title The Image
Country of production USA , France
original language English
Publishing year 1976
length 89 minutes
Age rating FSK unchecked
Rod
Director Radley Butcher
script Jake Barnes
Catherine Robbe-Grillet
production Gill Champion
camera René Lefèvre
Gaston Muller
occupation

The Image (alternative titles The Punishment of Anne and The Mistress and the Slave ) is a sadomasochistic American porn film by director Radley Metzger from 1975, which is one of the classics of porn film history and is in the tradition of porn chic . The film is based on the sadomasochistic classic L'Image , published by the French author Catherine Robbe-Grillet under the pseudonym Jean de Berg .

The film is divided into ten elevators, which are clearly separated from each other by fade-ins with chapter headings. The action is described and commented ex-post by the voice-over voice of the main character Jean.

action

The bored writer Jean (Carl Parker) meets his old friend Claire (Marilyn Roberts) and her attractive blonde friend Anne (Mary Mendum, also known as Rebecca Brooke ) at a Paris society party . Claire quickly recognizes Jean's interest in her friend and invites him to take her for a walk in the rose gardens of the Château de Bagatelle. Jean quickly realizes that the two women have much more than a conventional friendship in common.

After Jean realizes at another chance meeting with Anne that she can be extremely assertive in a sales negotiation with a bookseller and that she is absolutely resolute towards him without Claire's presence, he tries to talk to Claire. Claire subsequently demonstrates her relationship with her sub and gives this to Jean for free. He accepted the gift, in the days that followed, absorbed more and more in his new role as Anne's Cathedral and explored the limits of his new play partner.

In the following days Jean Anne leads into new situations and discovers his own pleasure in the completely new constellation for himself. Among other things, he introduces Anne to a fashion saleswoman, who then seduce both of them together. In further scenes there are flagellations , public performances, urophilia and other sadomasochistic practices. The plot culminates in the ninth act in a scene in which Claire and Jean in Claire's domicile put Anne in chains together in a recreated “Gothic dungeon” and play them in a drastic scene. Claire suddenly attacks Jean and is supported by Anne; Jean flees. Then Anne takes off her gag and says goodbye to Claire.

In the last act there is a surprising turning point. The up to then very dominant Claire visits Jean in his penthouse, dressed like Anne, and follows his instructions to undress; with the words “You can do whatever you want with me” it reveals itself to be a switch . The two love each other passionately.

structure

The Image is by intertitles divided into ten chapters. The chapter names shown in white serif on a black background are as follows:

  • I. An Evening at the X ... ´s
  • II. The Roses in Bagatelle Gardens
  • III. Too Much Water and Its Consequences
  • IV. False starts
  • V. The Photographs
  • VI. An Expiatory Sacrifice
  • VII. The Fitting Room
  • VIII. In the bathroom
  • IX. The Gothic Chamber
  • X. Everything Resolves Itself

backgrounds

  • Mary Mendum was Butcher's girlfriend at the time of shooting. The film immediately followed her appearance on the Broadway version of Hair .
  • The production, shot on film, is a classic representative of the porn chic of the 1970s and one of Metzger's last productions before he devoted himself more and more to hardcore against the backdrop of the emerging video market.
  • The film clearly follows the idea of ​​the SSC , but the "game scene" in the "Gothic Dungeon" was repeatedly described as very intense. A corresponding representation of sadomasochistic practices was very unusual for the 1970s and goes far beyond what was shown in the 1975 film adaptation of the story of O by Just Jaeckin .
  • The production was created under the name The Image and was initially published under this. Metzger later bowed to the increasing commercial pressure of the then rapidly changing film market and changed the title to The Punishment of Anne .

Reviews

  • "Certainly one of the most serious cinematic attempts to deal with the subject of sadomasochism. Both Metzger and Robbe-Grillet risked a lot - the scenes in the Gothic chamber are hard to bear."
  • "Anyone interested in sadomasochism will obviously be satisfied by the physical thrills that Metzger superficially demonstrated. I discovered for myself the actual fulfillment of the possibility of delving deep into the world of dominance and submission developed through the relationships between the characters."
  • "This film is definitely the best on the subject of sado-masochism. Even Gerard Damiano's excellent contribution to this subject," Story of Joanna ", cannot quite keep up with this and the very famous, but unbearably cheesy film" The Story of O "by Just Jaeckin falls out of the way. "
  • "(This film ...) ... is a must for anyone who is interested in the fetishes shown (extensive oral sex, bondage , whipping and urination), as well as for those who would like to know what quality porn can look like."

swell

  1. ↑ a b Stephen R. Bissette, Mountains of Madness, Filmhistorische Analyze as inlay of the Synapse films DVD edition 2002
  2. ↑ Michael Stach, Images of Punishment , Elegant Erotica - the films of Radley Metzger
  3. ↑ "Anyone into sado-masochism will get obvious fulfillment by watching the surface physical thrills that Metzger provides. The true fulfillment for this viewer was delving deeper into the themes of dominance and submission that the characters were exploring in their relationships." , "Boris Lugosi", girlsgunsandghouls.com
  4. ↑ O.Bohn, Masterpieces of Porn Cinema , THE PUNISHMENT OF ANNE
  5. ↑ "This is a must own for anyone interested in the fetishes portrayed (graphic oral sex, bondage, whipping, and urination), and also for those who would like to see what quality porn can look like." , "Tuna" and Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy), The Image (1998)

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