The Image

The Image
The Image Poster

(US, 1975) focuses all its energy on the progress of a three-way BDSM affair and thereby achieves considerable erotic and dramatic tension.  30 something writer Jean runs into a long-absent old friend Claire, who has 20 something Anne in tow.  She introduces the girl as her slave and invites Jean to join in.

Anne is ritually used and humiliated in fine gardens and restaurants and disciplined in Claire’s elegant town house. The action proceeds at a stately pace, with due attention given to deportment and the importance of waiting for one’s pleasure.

The escalation of play and growing intensity of the lingering close-ups leaves us no doubt that the story has a definite destination in mind—and it’s well worth the wait.  But the scant dialogue and long stretches of pure filler make for several dead spots,

On the upside, director Radley Metzger gets maximum beauty from his handsome cast and postcard-pretty Paris locations, decent performances from the overdubbed dialogue, impact from sparse sound effects and a hot-house atmosphere from the strangely genteel classical music.

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