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69 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sarno's German Trilogy, Original & Uncut... But in Modified Fullscreen, July 10, 2005
Joseph Sarno is probably best known in America for his early Swedish erotic films, Inga (1967) and its sequel, "The Seduction of Inga" (1969). The "Girl Meets Girl Trilogy" or "German Trilogy", comes from the early 70s. The term trilogy is used very loosely. The films have no connection with one another storywise. They do share several things in common:
1. They all starred the Swedish teen sensation Marie Forså,
2. They were all filmed in Germany,
3. They all included numerous scenes of lesbian sex.
And significantly, they were all shot in English because they were intended for the American market. These were not dubbed into English. They were in English. The actors were chosen because they spoke English, albeit with strong German and Swedish accents. Today they remain a charming curiosity.
These films are NOT hardcore pornography. They are rightfully categorized as erotica. Some label them sexploitation. Some categorize them as softcore. Their nearest counterparts would be the original Emmanuelle films.
Vampire Ecstasy (aka Veil of Blood) is the first film in the series. Shot in early 1973 in an actual medieval castle in Bavaria, it has the most substantial storyline. It also has the least amount of nudity, sex or eroticism. Its main theme revolves around lesbian vampires. The most erotic scene here would be where the young heroine Helga (Marie Forså) is ritualistically impaled on a large candlestick (not explicitly shown, of course).
Girl Meets Girl (aka Bibi: Confessions of a Sweet Sixteen) is the second of the three films to be shot. Dating from late 1973, it has the skimpiest storyline. Bibi, a 16 year old Swedish schoolgirl, goes to stay with her aunt while on vacation and proceeds to seduce and bed every single one of her aunt's circle of friends. This skimpy plot is, if we are to believe producer Chris Nebe, inspired by the character of Marie Forså herself, who during the previous shoot for "Vampire Ecstasy" had seduced and bedded practically the entire cast and crew save for the staid Sarno himself. Tiny blond hottie, Marie Forså, looks like the ideal girl next door, but beneath her innocent sweetness is an insatiable nymphomaniac. There is much more sex here than previously, and in every possible combination, but as always softcore. There's even a scene of Forså as a whip wielding lesbian dominatrix.
Butterflies from 1974 is the last installment of the trilogy. It is also the most explicit, pushing the envelope of what was allowable at the time. It co-stars Harry Reems of "Deep Throat" fame. The story chronicles the exploits of a young farmgirl (Marie Forså) who goes to the big city and falls for a nightclub owner and serial womanizer (Harry Reems). The sex scenes are as close to hardcore as you can get without it being so. The extremely fine line lies in the absence of closeups of actual penetration.
Although the films are unrated, the first two would probably merit an R rating, while Butterflies would probably warrant an NC-17. Compared to the bulk of today's porn or erotica they are very well made. The erotic element is tastefully done and production values are generally high. These films look good and exude class much like the contemporaneous Emmannuelle.
All three films come with engaging and informative commentaries by Producer Chris D. Nebe. Each also has an accompanying mini-documentary where Joseph Sarno and Chris Nebe talk about the films and reminisce about the delightful Forså who left film-making in the late 70s and now lives in her native Sweden. There is a small stills gallery and a set of trailers for Sarno's other movies. The DVDs come with a handsome 16 page booklet with lengthy articles on all three films.
Turning to the DVD transfers, overall the picture quality is pretty good. Colors are rich and vibrant. Images are crisp with good contrast. Black levels are just right. Skin tones look natural. The only complaint is with the amount of specks, nicks and scratches on the print. They may have managed to obtain the original 35mm prints but they did little if any restoration to it. Sound is limited to the original English 2.0 mono. No subtitles are provided.
Unfortunately all the films are transferred in a modified 1.33:1 fullscreen. The credits on all three films announce proudly right at the start that they are in "widescreen". I believe they were initially in 1.66:1 (standard European widescreen). This would agree with Retro-Seduction's previous release of Sarno's "Seduction of Inga" whose "Grindhouse Cut" was transferred in the original 1.66:1 widescreen. Another Sarno film "Indelicate Balance" was also in 1.66:1. It's sad that Retro-Seduction has seen fit to crop the original widescreen aspect to fit a standard TV. It shows a lack of both aesthetic sense and artistic integrity. And it shows just how little Retro-Seduction really thinks of the films they are releasing. That said, because the 1.66:1 aspect ratio is not far from fullscreen, the visual composition is not overtly harmed. For a cinephile, it would be disappointing. For the casual viewer it would be quite acceptable.
The packaging of the so-called "Collector's Edition" was also a disappointment. Yes, it was prettily done with every available space covered with photos of the lovely Miss Forså. But a flimsy paperboard foldout pack is not the way to present a "Collector's Edition". At the very least they could have provided an outer slipcase to protect the foldout pack. These foldouts can't even stand upright without spreading open. How long do you think they will last on the shelf?
All three films are available separately but if you intend buying two or more, it would make sense to invest in the Collector's set. The price difference is huge. ($39.99 vs $90.00) The Collector's set contains an extra audio CD of the films' original music, including the cheesy but memorable "Baby Love" and "Baby Tramp". However, the Collector's set does not come with the "Grindhouse Cut" of "Butterflies" (with spliced-in hardcore footage) which is only available with the separate "Butterflies" Collector's Edition.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Titilating, March 22, 2007
Girl Meete Girl and Vampire Ectasy were pretty disappointing but, Butterfly was more erotic. Marie Forsa is the best thing in all three movies, which is why I wanted to own them. There is some very good sex scenes in Butterfly and a pretty good story. More explicit shots of Maria Forsa would have been great but, the ones that are there are quite good.
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5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
DVD version is an editted version of the original., December 15, 2006
The picture and sound quality of these movies are magnificent on this DVD release. However, the explicit penetration scenes have all been removed. While most of the content and storyline remains the same at the original 70's version, the graphic sex scenes have been toned done a lot. The sex scenes have become closer to what one would expect to see in a modern movie by Seduction Cinema.
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DVD ~ Rebecca Brooke; Jennifer Welles
DVD ~ Rebecca Brooke
DVD ~ Anette Haven
DVD ~ Marie Forså
DVD ~ Christina Lindberg
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