Therese and Isabelle (1968)

Two young girls experience awakening sexuality in the heated atmosphere of a Swiss girls' boarding school...

Director:

Radley Metzger

Writers:

Violette Leduc (based on the novel by), Jesse Vogel (screenplay)

Stars:

Essy Persson, Anna Gaël, Barbara Laage

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Essy Persson	...	Thérèse
Anna Gaël	...	Isabelle (as Anna Gael)
Barbara Laage	...	Thérèse's mother
Anne Vernon	...	Mademoiselle Le Blanc
Simone Paris	...	The Madame
Maurice Teynac	...	Monsieur Martin
Rémy Longa	...	Pierre
Nathalie Nort	...	Renée
Darcy Pulliam	...	Agnès
Suzanne Marchellier	...	Mademoiselle Germain
Bernadette Stern	...	Françoise
Sege Geeraert
Martine Leclerc	...	Martine
Édith Ploquin
Alexandra Kabes

Storyline

A older woman visits the boarding school of her youth after a 20 year absense. While strolling about the deserted grounds and classrooms she remembers her highly emotional experiences there, and well-executed flashbacks occur to her youth. At 17 she is abandoned by her loving mother because of remarriage and left at a European boarding school, disenchanted and lonely. Immediately she meets Isabell, an older, confident, rebellious girl. The two develop a friendship quickly without much conversation or bonding, but have the always temporary chemistry necessary for their friendship to progress into a sexual relationship. The sex scenes are slow and sensual -as they should be for two young girls experiencing lesbianism for the first time. Despite their undying love confessions to each other, Theresa wakes up one morning to find Isabell has left the school, her room and desk replaced with another student. She never see's Isabell again.

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Plot Keywords:

character names as title | forenames as title | three word title | exploitation | boarding school | 

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Taglines:

... A love story

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Netherlands France West Germany USA

Language:

French English

Release Date:

18 June 1969 (France)

Also Known As:

Thérèse et Isabelle

Filming Locations:

Sans-Souci, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amsterdam Film, Berolina-Film GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Star Essy Persson appeared live at New York's Trans-Lux 85th St. theater on the film's opening night.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Therese: I never saw Isabelle again.

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Connections

Referenced in American Grindhouse (2010)

User Reviews

nothing like the book

the author of the book, by the same title, should not have let her name be used for this movie. if you have read the book, this movie takes such a liberal interpretation of the actual events in the book and its spirit that the movie and book seem to have quite little in common except the title and some superficial details. the movie adds nothing, in terms of artistic merit, to the book's own literary achievement.

for those who have not read the book: you will also be disappointed. not only does the plot move at an incredibly slow pace, it doesn't offer anything more while it is moving slowly (like character development, for example). some viewers might be entertained by some of the graphic lesbian love scenes later on in the movie, but you might as well watch a showtime special for the stuff they show in therese and isabelle--its fairly tame and not imaginative at all.