User Reviews

Radley Metzger made this movie in black and white to, as he told The Rialto Report, "to deliberately align it more closely to classic cinematic love stories of yesteryear rather than the often gaudy sexploitation movies that were de rigueur in the late 1960s."

Thérèse (Essy Persson, who is also in Metzger's I, A Woman, Mission Stardust and Cry of the Banshee) and Isabelle (Anna Gaël, also known as Anna Abigail Thynn, Marchioness of Bath; Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath; Viscountess Weymouth; the Dowager Marchioness; the Honorable Lady Thynn; as you can tell by her title, Gaël's life was fascinating, beyond acting in movies like Dracula and Son and Zeta One. According to the introduction to her incredible Rialto Report interview, she spent the 70s married to a "...wealthy British aristocrat, a controversial and scandalous union that started when Anna was just 15, and involved salacious stories of hundreds of lovers, erotic paintings of the Kama Sutra that police deemed to be obscene, one of the most famous English stately homes, and allegations of racism that caused the break-up of a noble family.") are two young women who fall in love after Thérèse is taken to a boarding school by her remarried mother. The entire story is told in flashback; as it was shot without sound in the style of Italian movies, the dubbed nature of the film adds a dreamlike quality.

Roger Ebert called it "the worst movie of the year" and "another of his traveling stupidity exhibitions, which masquerade as "art films" to get into respectable theaters."

I don't know if he saw the same movie that I did, to be honest. I was touched by the loss that Thérèse feels as she walks the halls of her abandoned school, remembering when love was young and the feelings of being with the first person that you love. That's my than smut or a so-called dirty movie in my eyes.

************* spoiler alert *************** I am so glad I got to see this wonderful movie.Is there anything more romantics than this line from the movie said in monologue, "We hugged to our hearts all the Thereses and Isabelles who would make love to one another later with other names" I wish the producers would re-release this movie in colour to capture the beauty of the school grounds and the actresses.

One of my favourite scenes in the movie is when the camera is panning away from the couple inside the chapel with the monologue lending images through words. I have written down, word for word, the scene inside chapel. Isabelle is waiting for Therese inside the school chapel Isabelle: I missed the train Therese: I missed you Isabelle: I missed you too! Therese: Come closer, you're too far away. Let me do it. Isabelle: If we get caught? Someone may come in. Therese:I don't care

Therese pulls her down to the floor and then we don't see the couple, just hear Therese in monologue:

I tore her uniform and crushed her beneath, Blood rose in to my cheeks, in to my throat, Her hand was making it difficult for me to breathe, I was sobbing without a sound, without tears, Isabelle was sobbing too. She pressed her hand against my uniform, I dug her neck into my teeth,.............. NO typo- that's what she said :) Her lips tried to find mine, in my hair, in my neck, in the folds of my uniform, I pushed her against the floor, I nailed her hands against it with the palms of mine, I hugged her with all the strength with my repentance, I breathed her in. I held her tight against my belly, and made loin cloth of myself. She was melting my ankles and knees into delicious decay, I burst forth warmth like a fruit, I was filling with the same liquid sweetness, while pins were softly tearing against me, oh so softly. I was following everything in sight, could see with my inner eyes the light in her flesh. In my head I had a Therese, with open legs straining up to the sky, who was receiving all that I was giving. We hugged to our hearts all the Thereses and Isabelles, who would make love to one another later with other names. We rode entwined down a slope of shadows, we held our breath so that life and death should come to a halt. I stormed her mouth as one storms a blithe city, I was hoping to plunder and destroy both her entrails and my own. Isabelle cried in panic. I persevered. Isabelle called for help. Isabelle: I can feeling it climbing my legs, its coming. Therese: Tell me Isabelle: I love you Therese: again Isabelle: I love you Therese: again Isabelle: I love you

So the girls are making out inside, meanwhile outside the chapel, a school teacher/counselor is showing parents around the school and says, " this used to be the chapel, our girls make use of it for dramatics" Hilarious! I also noticed catholic guilt in this scene, where Therese talks about crucifixion with "I nailed her hands against it with palms of mine" after all they were making out on the floor of the chapel!! I think the character of Therese is very bold for exploring masturbation, especially after her first sex encounter, which may have helped her in her self awareness. She seemed more accepting of herself, her situation with her mother and step father and Isabelle. Its very arousing to see it someone finger herself under the sheets, the beauty of the scene is it was portrayed without showing any skin unlike La Vie d'Adèle (blue is the warmest colour). This movie was written and made way ahead of its time. I wish more people would watch it!