Les grandes jouisseuses (1978)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Claude Bernard-Aubert

Writer:

Claude Bernard-Aubert (writer)

Release Date:

19 April 1978 (France)

Genre:

Adult

Plot Keywords:

Obsession | Psychiatrist | Female Nudity | Sex | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Brigitte Lahaie	...	Marianne
Ursula White	...	Janine
Jean-Louis Vattier	...	Pierre
Dominique Aveline
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Lemieuvre	...	Party Guest
Charlie Schreiner	...	Party Guest

Also Known As:

Fièvres nocturnes (France) (DVD title)
French Erotic Fantasies (UK) (video title)
Nuits brûlantes (France)
The Grande Sensualists (Australia) (video box title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Company:

F.F.C.M.

Dreams can come true when you want your cake and eat it too

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Jean-Louis Vattier dreams about his lovely downstairs neighbor, Brigitte Lahaie, although his dreams occasionally turn into nightmares involving his hard hat co-worker Dominique Aveline. One particularly strange and violent sequence is not made any more watchable by some slow motion fighting accompanied by the usual 'arousing' sax music instead of more threatening music, but this entire film is one big incomprehensible trip anyway, so the viewer had better prepare for more far out scenes. Pierre awakes to find his beautiful blond wife (although she's no Brigitte) played by Ursula White. Obviously their marriage is in trouble, with him living in a fantasy world of his own making while she, Janine, has taken a lover of the same sex (Liliane Lemieuvre as Rosette). Pierre spots Brigitte in a book store and begins to fantasize once more. The, erm, ejaculation shot is most definitely a fantasy! Then he goes home to dream about himself sharing Brigitte with his wife. Well at least he hasn't completely forgotten about his spouse. In return, she has arranged an appointment with a psychiatrist, Madame Gabrielle Dullan, an older lady, who non the less is as sexually liberated (or should that be unrestrained) as everyone else: she let's him fondle her bosom while he tells her his woes. Naturaly, he drifts off into Lalaland once more, this time also including the shrink's maid, while her employer gets to watch.

There are quite a number of shots of Jean-Louis Vattier walking down the street while the women in his life watch from a window. These are used both as a way to establish the place, as inserts between the sexual acts, and to mark the passage of time. One strange editing choice occurs when he leaves the psychiatrist after his first session, and immediately returns for another in the next scene. A bit sloppy, that was, though at least they do wear different clothes. Gabrielle turns on her seventies cassette recording (you know the kind with two enormous round cassettes) to preserve his latests obsessive dream, once more involving Brigitte Lahaie's behind. Briggite doesn't seem to be enjoying it much anymore, and the sex is starting to get a bit repetitive, until the shrink enters the dream wearing a strap-on and climbs underneath Lahaie. For the next session, they skip the going home and returning bit altogether and just segue into the next dream phase (first sloppy editing, now lazy writing!). Pierre get's his kicks ordering Brigitte to pick up Mr. Moustache himself, Domenique Aveline, up in a bar. Again, the maid, the shrink, and the dildo join in.

Oh wait, here comes a surprise: Jean-Louis wakes up and has sex with his wife Ursula, twice! So he can manage to keep it up outside of his fantasy world after all. Meanwhile Madame Dullan is visiting Brigitte, who turns out to be called Marianne and shows her a picture of her client, whom Brigitte fails to recognize. The only way to cure Pierre of his obsession is to arrange an encounter with his dream woman, apparently. Marianne objects at first, but soon walks into part of the dream sequence and finds herself being followed by two Pierres. Don't ask me to explain, French porn is often completely incomprehensible. The only attempt made to accentuate the fantasy part of seeing double Pierres is is made by using of some strange Six Million Dollar Man derived sound effects. By now life and dream are completely intertwined, as the scene shifts to a cock-tail party at Marianne's place where every man gets uses the former on every woman's latter. Pierre orders his sometime rival Dominique to take his wife while other male guests gang up on the maid. No sign of Brigitte though. When our 'hero' finally wakes up, Brigitte is lying next to him. Ah! the irony of it all, when he finally has the woman of his dreams in his arms, Pierre starts fantasizing about his wife. This man clearly wants to have things both ways, and since we are near the end, gets it too. Ursula brings them breakfast in bed, as well as a little rubber present. No, the girls are not gonna give him a taste of his own medicine, they were just one member short for a threesome. Here's to happy endings, eh.

5 out of 10