A coming of age story centering on the exploits of a young girl during summer vacation.

Plot Synopsis:
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Righty-Sock (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
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Bilitis (Patti d'Arbanville) attends an all-girl school that is about to break for summer... Once on vacation, Bilitis comes to hold with her developing sexuality and strikes up a romantic liaison with a local boy… A secondary romance concerns Bilitis' female guardian and her new husband…

The treatment of sensuality is soft and beautiful, which is in keeping with Hamilton's style of photography… At the beginning of the film, we see the sweet, sensual bodies of the schoolgirls exuberantly bathing in a mountain lake…

When Bilitis is finally seduced, it is exaggerated romance, heavily diffused, implying rather than showing their coupling… The lovemaking between the married couple is equally stylized, but more steamy…

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P.S. Paaskynen from Tornio, Finland
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One must understand this film in the light of its background. In the 1970s the success of the sexual revolution in Europe had made things possible in mainstream film that perhaps would be frowned at today. David Hamilton was a photographer that made a name for himself with hyper-romantic images of mostly young teens. He developed a technique that involved copious amounts of vaseline on the lens to create a unique blurred effect. Out of this success the desire was born to translate his trademark style to film.

As basis for the film an older story about an innocent young girl discovering and exploring her sexuality was used, but the storyline is largely inconsequential since it merely serves as a framework for Hamilton's soft focus tableaux. The result is that the film feels a bit like pink cotton candy: overly sweet and insubstantial. That it still remains palatable is due to just the pretty images and the excellent musical score by Francis Lai.

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enerkhan from Belgium
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THis is the debut film of D. Hamilton, a very well known photographer from the seventies. Contrary to the other commentator I found this a marvelous film, but you have to look at it from a certain perspective. If you look at this film searching for a good script, for profundity of conversation, for strong acting (genre "Cat on a ht tin roof"), this film will not appeal to you. But if you look at it like looking at a Monnet painting, listening to Debussy music or reading M. Proust, in essence, if you drink its simple, uncomplicated impressions, listen to the sublime music, watch the beautiful and stylish shots, enjoy the sensuality in the film without too much looking for sense in everything, the film is truly beautiful. In short: if you look at it like you look at impressionist art, not looking for all sorts of plots and hidden messages, but just to enjoy its simple and straight forward beauty, you will be drawn into a wonderful world and afterwards you'll be longing to live in that world of flowers, fresh life, warm summer in the country, swimming in the sea, having your first love etc...

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Andy Ethell from Ireland
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This is an sensuous film with beautiful teenaged girls lovingly filmed undressing, and then playing, in a lake.

In fact an edited version of 30 minutes would make my favourite film of all time. The pity is the other 60 minutes.

My critique can be broken up into great, mediocre and disappointing.

Great

Without a doubt this film has the most erotic and sensous scenes I have ever scene. Specifically:

Full frontal nudity of teenaged girls undressing, and then playing, in the lake;

Dormitory scenes with Bilitis and her bestfriend;

Semi-nude of love scenes between Melissa [Mona Kristensen]and Bilitis [Patti D'Arbanville];

Bilitis having Melissa help undress Bilitis after a sea-side swim; and

Theatrical performance with girls in see-through costumes.

Good

The tension between Melissa and her husband, Pierre [Gilles Kohler];

The scenes of pre-war semi-rural France;

The costume recreations-especially with the teenaged girls' school clothing.

Disappointing

The lead male, Lucas [Bernard Giraudeau], who was a weak male-chauvinist. Maybe as this was a girls' boarding school there was a shortage of attractive boys/men around, and so they would have fantasised about any youngish new man who appeared on the scene.

It would have been better if Bilitis and Pierre were attracted to one another as that that would have created sexual tension. He was the only male character that I liked, yet he only appeared in a few scenes.

If not tension between Bilitis and Pierre , then between Pierre and the girl he was taking to the equestrian event in Monaco.

Patti D'urbanville at 26-27 playing a 16-17 year old. Although the use of a substitute teenaged figure for the sensuous scenes were used.

Overall

I loved it.



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Jean-Michel BOURREAU from France
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The first Time i saw "Bilitis" in a Cinema, fascination took over the wonderful Images of David Hamilton. I think i went 6 or 7 times to watch "Bilitis" in the Cinema when it came out. I always wanted to buy the Film but couldn't get it and after many years of waiting i finally found a VHS-Cassette on a Fleamarket. My Luck: Great condition.

Unfortunately this Movie is often listed as a "Adult"-Movie, but it's not and to my opinion the most misunderstood Movie in it's Genre. This Film shows very deeply the Emotions from a Female point of view, with all up's and down's.

"Bilitis" is one of these rare Movies that must be watched more than once to really get all the fine Details in the Images and Story. Sure, it contains a lot Erotic Moments but in a very beautiful and tasteful manner, unseen before.

For me a "must have" in a Movie Collection and this is why i rate this Movie as "Excelent".

Michel Bourreau, France

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lazarillo from Denver, Colorado and Santiago, Chile
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Sometimes my quest to see every notorious European sex film from the 70's leads me very far afield--and sometimes it just leads to a lot of boredom. I saw this film back-to-back with Catherine Breillat's directorial debut "Un Vrai Jeune Fille" (Breillat was co-writer of this film as well). Both are very pretentious, but while "Jeune Fille" is genuinely disturbing yet also realistic in a strange way, this film is simply dull and rarely rises above the most generic level of male fantasy. The director David Hamilton, depending on who you ask, is either a brilliant photographer or an incorrigible pervert. His main subject of interest was capturing adolescent and post-adolescent females at their most nubile. He's definitely in hog heaven at the beginning of this film which is set at a French girls' school the protagonist is attending. This apparently is a VERY liberal school where the students freely skinny-dip, openly engage in lesbian frolics, and even put on Greek plays for their families wearing nearly diaphanous togas that barely cover their lissome bodies. Naturally, ALL these girls are model beautiful. It's probably best not to wonder how old some of them were at the time, but the lead, American actress Patty D'Arbanville, was actually in her mid-20's, although she looks younger.

As questionable as the first half hour may be though, it certainly achieves it effect (it's surpassed only by the "Barthory" section of Walerian Borowzyx's "Immoral Tales" in its sheer gratuitous display of nubile skin). It's really the second hour that's the problem. D'Arbanville's character "Bilitis" goes to stay with her ridiculously young female "guardian" (Mona Christensen) and the latter's unfaithful, brutish husband. "Bilitis" falls in love with the (slightly)older woman and they have a long lesbian sex scene. The guardian spurns her afterwards, but "Bilitis", taking it like a trooper, decides to try to personally "find a man" for her after her husband walks out. "Bilitis" also has a would-be beau herself, a young photographer (just like the director, hmmm). Respected actor Mathieu Carriere also shows up as one would-be suitor for the "older" woman, but I THINK he's supposed to be gay. The film ends with EVERYONE left pretty unhappy, which is really the only place the downbeat influence of Breillat shows through the soft-focus schmaltz of Hamilton.

Although he is the polar opposites in his taste in women (Hamilton's actresses rarely have enough fat on their young bodies to make for more than a B-cup), David Hamilton is a lot like "bosomaniac" American director Russ Meyer in a way. No heterosexual male can honestly say he is turned off by bountiful breasts OR nubile 18-year-old bodies, but if you don't happen to share either of these director's obsessive personal fetishes, their work gets kind of tedious after awhile. This movie would have been vastly improved , for instance, if the guardian had been played by a voluptuous older woman instead of another young nymph like Christensen. (It's not that I really advocate inter-generational lesbian sex, but if you're gonna do it, do it right).

I'd definitely recommend this for David Hamilton fans, but otherwise, ehhhhh.

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Hans-56 from Arnhem, Holland
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When it was released this film caused a sensation. I watched it and was thrilled. Beautiful, usually young, naked women filmed in the classy style we knew so well from director Hamiltons photography. His photographs never become porn and the same is true for this movie. Today I saw it again and was bitterly disappointed. The soft core in extremely slow paced scenes, all filmed with some Vaseline on the lenses, actually is all there is. There is no real story, the characters remain beautiful and beautifully filmed bodies, but they are not real creatures with a soul. Actually nothing happens. It is like Hamilton is photographing using moving pictures rather than stills. And this gets so boring after a while. I even didn't watch the whole thing the second time, for I fell vast asleep. That is all that remains of this masterpiece: it is a very good sleeping pill. And you will never become addicted to it!

Back then 7 out of 10, now 3 out of 10

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jvanderkammer from Ontario, Canada
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Those of you familiar with David Hamilton as a photographer will (at least) make sense of his visual treatment in Bilitis. Very lush and sensual, with a voyeuristic appeal: we are drawn in to great visuals of the young Ms. D'Arbanville getting undressed, washing, getting cozy with another female friend in bed, and becoming a voyeur herself! But Hamilton should have gone a bit further with the love scenes and erotic visuals; we are only treated to a nibble of his talent. If you are turned-on by girl-girl and lolita themes, then you will probably enjoy Bilitis. Otherwise, just watch it for the few visual delights... the story is a snoozer.

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Robert Reynolds (minniemato@hotmail.com) from Tucson AZ
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It is not generally my practice to review movies that I dislike to any great degree. However, one or two times a year, I temporarily set aside my rule to only comment on things I like to give a word of warning. I find it more enjoyable to comment on something I like and boost it than I do shooting at bad movies. But some "movies" cry out for the razor.

Bilitis is one of them. The cinematography isn't the only aspect that is blurry and out of focus here. An almost indiscernible plot (certainly incoherent, if there even is one) bad acting, cheesy script and awful pacing. Those are its major problems.

Understand, I firmly believe that not all movies are created equal and films should be judged according to their category. It is not reasonable to judge, say, Beach Blanket Bingo against Gone With the Wind. I judge Bilitis against other movies in its weight class. Measured against movies like Emmanuelle or Secrets of a Chambermaid, it comes off very badly indeed. Even eye-candy has to be entertaining and Bilitis most definitely is not.

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stevej99-1 from USA
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The plot may not be much as it is somewhat incoherent however if you appreciate watching the sexual awakening and exploits of lovely young girls then this is for you.

Patty D'Arbanvile is lovely to look at for such a young girl.

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AKAs Titles:


Certifications:
Australia:R18+ / Finland:K-18 / France:16 / Germany:16 / Netherlands:16 / Norway:16 / South Korea:18 / UK:18 / USA:R