"Oh Therese" "Oh
Isabelle" ... oh no. Filmed in French in 1968, this is an erotic lesbian
classic, but for modern viewers, it can be somewhat tedious. It moves very slooooowly,
with longing glances and dramatic music. Therese (Essy Persson) is a teenager
sent to boarding school when her mother remarries and essentially abandons her
daughter. There she meets Isabelle (Anna Gaël), a much more carefree and
life experienced girl, and the two become fast friends. The story is told
in flashback as an adult Therese revisits the old school and recalls her first
love. The girls, played by women who look much too old for the parts, soon start
kissing and caressing in bathroom stalls and the chapel. Love scenes are not explicit,
but sensual with nudity, and they are poetically narrated by the adult Therese,
who uses such phrases as "secret pearl." They promise to never
leave one another, but as one might expect for a film of this time, all doesn't
end well. Soon after they spend a night together in the woods, Isabelle's parents
take her out of the school, leaving a heartbroken Therese all alone again. Directed
by Radley Metzger and based on the novel by Violette Leduc. |