Product Details

• Actors: Danièle Gaubert, Nino Castelnuovo, Eleonora Rossi Drago, Roberto Bisacco, Massimo Serato
• Directors: Radley Metzger
• Writers: Alexandre Dumas fils, Michael DeForrest
• Producers: Radley Metzger
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: X (Mature Audiences Only)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: First Run Features
• VHS Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Run Time: 115 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630502121X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,294 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Radley Metzger's erotic take on Alexandre Dumas fils' tragedy The Lady of the Camellias is a hedonistic journey into decadence among the chic world of upper-crust Rome. Marguerite (Danièle Gaubert) lives off the gifts and good graces of an elderly sugar-daddy count, treating love as a game and sex as a pastime (she is "discriminating but not particular," in the words of one rival). Sweet-faced innocent Armand (Nino Castelnuovo), a young bachelor newly arrived in Rome, courts the comely beauty and wins her heart, and together they live a fairy-tale romance--until his father intervenes and Marguerite (already conveniently dying of one of those afflictions that strikes gorgeous young women who flirt out of their class) selflessly leaves Armand to his greater fate and sinks into a haze of drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous abandonment. Metzger's romantic tragedy is a fleshy delight--the camera lovingly caresses every voluptuous curve of Gaubert's face and body--with a surprisingly restrained display of nudity. Lushly photographing in seductive color in the elegant mansions of Rome, Metzger cranks up the kink in one scene, a party set in a prison turned pleasure house where dates are chained together and couples retire to a cell for privacy, but balances the erotic decadence with tasteful restraint. The art direction and cinematography are so rich that, apart from the magnetic Miss Gaubert, the characters are constantly in danger of being overwhelmed by their surroundings. But little matter--if the tragedy is less than devastating, the realization is delightfully tactile and alive. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A hip "La Traviata", December 14, 1999

By 

Jack Merridew "Jack" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Camille 2000 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Camille 2000 is a tale of a rich Italian businessman, Armand, who falls in love with Marguerite, a rich French Madam. The story follows the opera "La Traviata", which is not new territory for Metzger (Carmen, Baby), and is based on the Alexandre Dumas story "Lady of the Camellias". The most interesting aspect of this film is the use of color, the extravagant costumes, and the photography. This film has a reputation as being a sort of "soft-core" sex film, but actually it is very tame compared to many other adult films from that decade. The film does have some flaws, such as editing and acting, however it is visually soothing. The soundtrack by Piero Piccioni is the best psychedelic film music I have ever heard. A good choice for fans of that "Peter Max" look.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT EARLY 70s PSYCHO-ITALIANA, May 12, 2000

By 

L. S. Slaughter "silvanus" (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

An old story gets a soft-porn twist in Metzger's 1970 outing. Some artfully framed sex scenes, Piero Piccioni's catchy, sexy soundrack, and some fun costumes of the period-imagining-the-not-too-distant-furture make the enterprise a cut way above most films of this genre. Production design fans will like it for no reason other than its aesthethic, which recalls Pietro Germi's great TENTH VICTIM of four years earlier (1966). This was Metzger's best foray before Zalman King usurped the genre (you know, TWO MOON JUNCTION and all that jazz). What one should really do though is find the incredible score by Maestro Piero Piccioni (available on Easy Tempo Records). It's a seductive tapestry of orchestral, psychedelic, and organ-funk sounds with a never-ending bass line.

Art...uh, no. Wack, fun filmmaking of its period, most certainly.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Softcore deconstruction of 'la dolce vita', July 18, 2003

By 

Libretio - See all my reviews

CAMILLE 2000

(USA - 1969)

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Theatrical soundtrack: Mono

During a visit to Rome, the romantic Armand (Nino Castelnuovo) falls in love with a promiscuous young Countess (Daniele Gaubert), but their unlikely romance is opposed by Castelnuovo's wealthy father (Massimo Serato), and Fate deals a tragic blow...

A sexed-up love story for the swinging Sixties, adapted from a literary source (Alexandre Dumas' 'La Dame aux Camellias') by screenwriter Michael DeForrest, and directed with cinematic flair by Radley Metzger who, along with Russ Meyer and Joe Sarno (amongst others), is credited with redefining the parameters of 'Adult' cinema throughout the 1960's and 70's. Using the scope format for the last time in his career, Metzger's exploration of 'la dolce vita' is rich in visual excess (note the emphasis on reflective surfaces, for example), though the film's sexual candor seems alarmingly coy by modern standards.

Production values are handsome throughout, and while the actors are slightly hamstrung by post-sync dubbing, the performances are engaging and humane (Castelnuovo and Gaubert are particularly memorable). Though set in an unspecified future, Enrico Sabbatini's wacked-out set designs locate the movie firmly within its period, and Piero Piccioni's 'wah-wah' music score has become something of a cult item amongst exploitation devotees. Ultimately, CAMILLE 2000 is an acquired taste, but fans of Metzger's brand of elegant softcore erotica won't be disappointed.