“Look at me — I’m all flat and skinny, like a boy.”
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Synopsis:
A teenage schoolgirl (Patti D’Arbanville) spends the summer with a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and develops a crush on the wife (Mona Kristensen). Meanwhile, she pursues a local teenage boy (Bernard Giraudeau), and tries to find a “suitable male lover” for Kristensen.
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- Coming-of-Age
- Lesbianism
- Sexuality
Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary notes, Bilitis is basically soft-core porn packaged as a teenage “coming-of-age sexcapade”; indeed, it contains many porn-film tropes, such as gratuitous lesbian love scenes, a young virgin’s sexual awakening, and a sexually unsatisfied woman’s search for a “suitable” lover. The storyline is ridiculous and “boring,” but at least DP Bernard Daillencourt’s soft-focus cinematography is easy on the eyes. Ephebophiles will have a field day watching countless nubile young women prance about in various states of undress; the rest of us will be distractedly wondering if these girls are really all 18 or older…
Redeeming Qualities:
- Lush soft-focus cinematography
Must See?
No.
Links:
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One thought on “Bilitis (1977)”
First (and last) viewing. Not a must, nope.
It’s kind of overwhelming how dull this movie is. Similar (in tone, anyway) to ‘Emmanuelle’ (of two years prior), ‘Bilitis’ is more like a coffee table book of soft-core porn – with a younger and marginally livelier leading lady. (Kristensen is the lifeless stand-in here for Sylvia Kristel.)
Most surprising, the emphasis here is on (ahem) story and there’s very little sex (not that more would make a difference, really).
There’s not much happening here at all.