This film is made up of three stories by Guy du Maupassant--all of which have something, apparently, to do with pleasure (hence the title). However, this connection is very tenuous to say the least.
The first is about an old man who is vain and wants to remain young. He does this by wearing a mask as he dances. Nothing interesting here other than a sad old vain man.
The second is by far the longest one. It's about a brothel in a small town and it actually has two part. In the first one, it shows the reaction of the men in the community when the place found unexpectedly closed. The second consists of these women going to see the christening of the niece of one of the sex workers. All this is well acted--very well acted. Other, however,than perpetuating the 'hooker with a heart of gold' notion, this one didn't seem to have much of a point--more just a slice of life.
The third is about an artist who falls in love with one of his models. However, once they begin cohabitating, they soon get sick of each other. But, through a twist of fate, they are stuck with each other. Pretty depressing.
Apparently I am in the minority on this one. While its overall score is almost 8.0 and Stanley Kubrick apparently adored the film, it left me very flat. Now this is not because of the acting or direction--it was first-rate all the way and very lovely to watch. No, my problem is that none of the stories were that interesting--particularly the first and third ones. And the stories also didn't seem to have a lot of meaning or significance or irony.
The first is about an old man who is vain and wants to remain young. He does this by wearing a mask as he dances. Nothing interesting here other than a sad old vain man.
The second is by far the longest one. It's about a brothel in a small town and it actually has two part. In the first one, it shows the reaction of the men in the community when the place found unexpectedly closed. The second consists of these women going to see the christening of the niece of one of the sex workers. All this is well acted--very well acted. Other, however,than perpetuating the 'hooker with a heart of gold' notion, this one didn't seem to have much of a point--more just a slice of life.
The third is about an artist who falls in love with one of his models. However, once they begin cohabitating, they soon get sick of each other. But, through a twist of fate, they are stuck with each other. Pretty depressing.
Apparently I am in the minority on this one. While its overall score is almost 8.0 and Stanley Kubrick apparently adored the film, it left me very flat. Now this is not because of the acting or direction--it was first-rate all the way and very lovely to watch. No, my problem is that none of the stories were that interesting--particularly the first and third ones. And the stories also didn't seem to have a lot of meaning or significance or irony.