The Lickerish Quartet (1970)

Director:

Radley Metzger

Writers:

Michael DeForrest (screenplay)
Michael DeForrest (story)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Body to body is the name of the game [DVD Australia]

Plot:

A jaded, wealthy couple watch a blue movie in their castle home along with her adult son. The son is testy...

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian Scene | Nudity | Magic Act | Beautiful Woman | Surrealism

Cast

Silvana Venturelli	...	The visitor
Frank Wolff	...	Castle owner
Erika Remberg	...	His wife
Paolo Turco	...	Her son

Also Known As:

Erotic Illusion
Erotic Instinct
Erotic Quartet
Esotika Erotika Psicotika (Italy)
Hide and Seek

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Italy | USA | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Australia:R | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Norway:18 (1974) | USA:X

Filming Locations:

Balsorano Castle, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy

Company:

Carstein

Movie Connections:

Featured in Drive-In Follies (1989)

"Reality's Hard"

Opening with a quote by Luigi Pirandello regarding the elusive and illusory nature of reality, Radley Metzger's 1970 soft-core, art-house offering, "The Lickerish Quartet," is indeed one mind-twisting film. In it, a stepfather, wife and son watch a stag film one night in their sumptuous castle, and later go to a carnival and see a motorcycle stunt performance. They bring home the beautiful blond cycler, who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of the hotties in that stag film, and she proceeds to seduce all three in turn. The end. But wait a minute...why is that stag film subtly altered now, and why do the family and the hotty start emulating the action IN that film? Apparently, Metzger & Co. have some comments they'd like to make regarding art imitating life, or life imitating art, or the mutability of reality, or how film alters our perception of truth, or how time plays tricks on memory. After two viewings, I'm still trying to figure the darn thing out. But the picture does provide other pleasures, besides its baffling themes. The four principals are all quite good, especially the gorgeous Silvana Venturelli as the blond (or is it brunette?) temptress. The location of the film, the Piccolomini Castle in Balsorano, Italy (also the location, BTW, of the 1965 Italian horror film "The Bloody Pit of Horror"), is equally gorgeous, and Enrico Sabbatini's set decor of the castle's chambers (especially that library!) is also a feast for the eyes. Perhaps best of all, Stephen Cipriani has provided a Morricone-like score for the film that is exceptionally beautiful, and certainly deserving of a soundtrack CD. This score is especially lovely when used as a backdrop for Silvana's prancing through a sunlit field. Still, "The Lickerish Quartet" remains a trippy head-scratcher, at best. Lines such as "Isn't everyone in movies?" and "Reality's hard" might clue in potential viewers to prepare themselves for one brow-furrowing evening....