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The Image More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 17 reviews in total |
29 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
Unsettling blend of art & pornography, 22 October 2006
Author:
Labia_Mirage from Deutschland
I suppose it can be said of Radley Metzger's "The Image", that it is the film that "Story of O" should have been. It is quite impossible to not be reminded of that film while watching this one, as the subject matter is the same: the world of sadomasochistic sex relationships. Both are gorgeously filmed, and both play somewhat like sexually charged fairy-tales. Both films were based on classic French erotic books, helmed by women. However the approach here is somewhat different, as "The Image" goes much further than "O" dared to go. In this unforgettable film, a young model by the name of Anne is 'owned' by a somewhat older, ice queen of a woman named Claire. When Jean, a handsome stud meets up with this bizarre couple, so begins an intense sexual game, as Claire gives Jean a guided tour through the world of S&M. The young Anne becomes the object of an endless series of kinky tortures/pleasures. Whippings, bondage, bizarre humiliations concerning urination, and oral sex, all filmed in breathtaking detail by the legendary Radley Metzger. Here is a man with a fascination for sex, nudity, and beautiful women. Fortunately, this man is equally concerned with more important things as well, such as character development, coherent and interesting story lines, symbolism, even the 'psychology' of sexual behavior. Important, for without these things, films like 'Image' would be not much more than a meaningless collection of beautifully filmed erotic set pieces. On the surface, Anne is the slave here, and Claire and Jean are in total control. but by the time it all ends, the viewer has to wonder, just who in that 3 way relationship actually had the power. I must give fair warning here: 'The Image' can be a somewhat harrowing experience for the average viewer. Not only is the sex graphic, some of it actual "hardcore", but much of it is surprisingly brutal, and mean-spirited as well. By the end of the film, I found myself feeling somewhat uncomfortable, even depressed at witnessing Annes merciless degradation and suffering, even though it was all 'consensual'. As in 'Story of O', it is made fairly clear that the heroine of the story was free to leave, whenever things got to be too much. And the ending is what you could call a happy one, as each of the three characters discovers something within themselves, and is therefore 'set free' of their respective chains. For someone such as myself, who is not involved in the S&M lifestyle, it can be hard to see Anne's terror and pain as something enjoyable. Is she doing this because she enjoys hard sex, and being dominated, or is it because she is psychologically unhealthy, which would mean that these two 'masters' are preying upon a girl by exploiting her sickness? If it wasn't a good film, i believe these questions would not be asked. Therefore "The Image" succeeds, in my opinion, at being a bizarre, but remarkable work of art, unlike the inferior 'Story of O', which made me feel nothing, and taught me nothing about the S&M scene. Recommended, but be prepared to see things not seen in mainstream cinema!
27 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
One of the Best..., 21 June 2005
Author:
Angela Jacobi from United States
This was my first S&M movie. Found by accident and watched it over and over, until I had to take it back. It is very erotic, and definitely a must see! I was happy to find it for sale so I can add it to my Library. If you are a Metzger fan you will want to see this movie. It changed the way I thought about sex, and opened up so many new avenues to explore. I have looked for this movie for about 5 years. I wanted my husband to see it. The Punishment of Anne takes you on a ride through the erotic tales of Dominace and submission. It is a wonderful ride. If you are new to the B&D scene, this is a good movie to start with. It isn't too much, but it is enough to wet your appetite and you will be back looking for more. It will quicken your heart rate, and put you in the right mood. I say it is a must have!!!
21 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
One of a Kind, 13 November 2002
Author:
YAS from Redondo Beach, CA
THE IMAGE is a disturbing, erotic, scary, elegant movie that probably only Radley Metzger could have made. Most directors of 'erotica' concentrate on gynecological close-ups to the exclusion of all else; Metzger's hallmark has always been to tell the story and explain the characters by relying as much on the actors' eyes as on the dialogue. The S&M scene is as alien to me as peanut-butter-and-pickle sandwiches (which I am also told some enjoy), but in THE IMAGE I can see the gamesmanship, the role-playing and the unspoken psychological leveraging that makes it all so compellingly complex. Would I show this film to Grandma? Uh-uh. But then, that's just MY grandma, who knows, yours may have a side you never suspected. This film is hot, fascinating, and, in this gorgeous and UNCUT (thank you, thank you!) video transfer, stunningly beautiful as well.
18 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Metzger at his finest!, 1 September 2002
Author:
dekkard8
Arguably the finest S/M movie ever made, Radley Metzger's 'The
Image'(aka The Punishment of Anne) tells of Jean, a writer who meets an old
friend, Claire, at a party and is soon drawn into her world of S/M along
with her slave, Anne.
Based on the French novel 'L'image' by Jean de Berg, a nom de guerre
for Catherine Robbe-Grillet, this may be Radley (Score!, Therese and
Isabelle, The Opening of Misty Beethoven)Metzger's best film. Beautifully
filmed and acted and very erotic.
If your up for some primo euro-erotica at its finest, look no further!
17 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Very erotic, 15 May 2003
Author:
wade1979 from Indiana, USA
I bought several erotic movies for my girlfriend and me and out of all of
them I have found this one to be the best so far. The DVD has some scenes
where there are lines in the picture but they do not take away from the
movie, for being such an old movie it transferred well to DVD. I have to
admit that I did not think that the movie would get so explicit in some
of
the scenes, but I think that just made it even better.
If you want a very erotic movie then this one is great. There are some
scenes that are a little annoying, like screaming for five or so minutes,
but overall it is great. I would not buy it if you are looking for a
porno,
but there are several scenes that you would see in a porno.
11 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Fantastic SM erotica, 4 September 2006
Author:
Scott-from-Modesto (andrea_yates_clogged_drain@comcast.net) from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This Metzger spectacle is all it's reputed to be and more, as
beautifully lurid and cinematically stunning sadomasochistic fetish
film as you're likely to come across.
Anne is a true submissive, she never says "no" despite the fact that
she is often humiliated, tortured, and brought to tears. Her mistress
and her mistress's studious male playmate run her through the spectrum
of whipping, bondage, public masturbation spectacle, forced urination,
needles, and hors d'oeuvre's insertion at a dinner party. Quite
provocative stuff. It's all captured gorgeously along with Anne's
screams and crying. Figure in also some achingly hot blow jobs given by
Anne and a hot three-way with a clothing store salesgirl.
The ending was quite Sadeian and I didn't see it coming, but what a way
to end it. Never a dull moment--10/10.
10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
High class porn with lots of sleaze!, 7 September 2006
Author:
The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
What we have here is a classic slice of pornography, which is wrapped
up in excellent production values in spite of the lurid and sleazy
nature of most of it's action. Indeed, this film has just about
everything a porn fan could want and more, as we get to watch the title
character go through a number of 'pleasures' including whipping, public
humiliation and mutilation. The film takes place in the upper society
of France, and this serves in making the film more shocking as it
features an eloquent voice over from the central character, which runs
over most scenes, and offsets the gratuitous sex sequences nicely. The
plot focuses on a man named Jean, who bumps into his friend Claire at a
dull cocktail party that the pair are attending. It's not long before
he is introduced to Claire's "friend" - the completely submissive Anne,
who delights in bending to her mistress' will, even if that means
having to urinate in public or undress in front of strangers. We then
follow the trio through a series of sex scenes, most of which see the
title character bear the brunt of the less savoury acts.
One thing I've learnt about porn flicks is that there often isn't much
of a plot to speak of; and this one is no different, although the slim
plot is excellently fleshed out by the three central characters; who
are very different and equally interesting. The beautiful Rebecca
Brooke takes the lead role and does well with it thanks to her good
looks and willingness to show off her 'assets' at every opportunity.
Marilyn Roberts plays the older, yet equally sexy woman who is also the
labyrinth character of the piece and provides the film with a degree of
intrigue. Carl Parker rounds it all off with a brilliantly sleazy
performance, and his character actually goes through a bit of
development, which is rather odd for a porn film. This film is really
head and shoulders above its counterparts, as the production values are
good and director Radley Metzger actually seems to care about how good
his locations look, as he succeeds in capturing France at its best.
Overall, The Punishment of Anne comes highly recommended to anyone that
interested in high-class porn films!
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Pornography Disguised in Art, 22 April 2012
Author:
Claudio Carvalho from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
In Paris, the writer Jean (Carl Parker) meets his former affair, Claire
(Marilyn Roberts), in a party. Claire is with a girlfriend, the model
Anne (Mary Mendum), and invites Jean to meet them on the next day.
Claire offers Anne, who is her humiliated slave, to Jean and the trio
begins a sadomasochist relationship with kinky sex.
I bought the DVD "The Image" expecting to see an erotic art movie.
However, it is actually porn with fellatio, urination, bondage and
humiliation without any story disguised in art. My concept of art is
very different from what I have just seen in this movie. My vote is one
(awful).
Title (Brazil): "A Imagem" ("The Image")
8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Somewhere between "Last Tango in Paris" and "The Story of O", 29 December 2006
Author:
lazarillo from Denver, Colorado and Santiago, Chile
This movie falls somewhere between "Last Tango in Paris" and "The Story
of O". It doesn't have the realism, the pathos, or the character
development of the former, but it also isn't exactly an enjoyably silly
sex fantasy like the latter. Like all Metzger films it is
well-photographed and classy in a way, but it also contains some
hardcore porn scenes which might leave a bad taste in some peoples'
mouths (no pun intended).
The story is about a man who meets a jaded older woman who in turn
introduces him to a younger woman "Ann" who she is training as a sex
slave. Carl Parker, who also had a small part in Metzger's "Score", is
pretty good as the man. The young woman played by the pseudonymous
"Mary Medum" is also decent, even though she looks more like a young
American "soccer mom" than an exotic Euro-beauty like Maria "Last Tango
in Paris" Schneider or Corrine "Story of O" Clery. (Thus for me this
movie was more of a fantasy of what I'd like to do to that idiot that
nearly ran me off the road in her SUV last week while blabbing on her
cellphone than it was a sex fantasy). The older woman, on the other
hand, is pretty much a superfluous character--for some reason S and M
seems a lot classier when it's a woman doing it to another woman at the
behest of a man rather than a man directly doing it to a woman. (Not
that this movie is too "politically correct" by today's standards--and
thank god for that!)
I guess I'd recommend it, even though it's not that sexy on one hand,
and pretty hard to take seriously on the other.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
"Forgive me, for I know what I do", 29 September 2007
Author:
TerribleAngelRosary from Pavia, Italy.
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
"The Image", or "The Punishment of Anne" is a sly piece of art porn
that deals with the themes of sadomasochism and sex slavery ("She
belongs to me" is the phrase that Claire uses to introduce her young,
bisexual, submissive girlfriend to the sleazy Jean).
Though it could be worth it for the "gothic chamber" sequence alone, in
which a not too slightly modified chandelier is used as an upper arts
constrictor and both a cat o' nine tails and a set of needles have a
prominent role, there come a shamelessly amusing biblical quote
("Forgive me, for I know what I do" before a whipping session, instead
of "Forgive them, for they don't know what they do" before Christ's
crucifixion!) and a very convincing Anne staring in a waiter's eyes
while her two sadist friends fist f**k her under the gown and order the
food.
Even though the narrating voice and the unnecessary oral sex got me
really bored in the first place, and the ending is kind of
disappointing (why not take the s and m thing to its extreme
consequences?), the high entertainment value of some tricks, and the
visual beauty and almost disturbing pace of the infamous torture
chamber scene place this straight down on the annals of erotic cinema.
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