The Image [Blu-ray]

The cast (and fun facts): Mary Mendum (aka Rebecca Brooke) as Anne. If you like her here (and who wouldn't), check out the amazing Felicia (1975) co-starring the legendary Béatrice Harnois.Marylin Roberts as Claire, also of 1977s Looking for Mr. Goodbar(!)Carl Parker as Jean, of Metzger's hit, Score.Yvette Hiver (aka Valerie Marron) as the shopgirl. Thee most prolific cast member, she appeared in many exploitation/HC films - this film was amongst her last. She moved to NYC and shacked- up with Micky Ruskin, the owner of Max's Kansas City. While pursuing a music career, she started dating Felix Pappalardi, the bassist for Mountain ('Mississippi Queen'). Enter Gail Collins, writer of Cream's 'Strange Brew ' and Felix's jealous ex-wife. Collins shot and killed him - and walked! Soon after, Marron retired to Woodstock, NY and led a hermetic life with former adult performer (and singer of the disco hit, 'more more more '), Andrea True.Whew!Longtime exploitation producer/director Radley Metzger (aka Henri Paris) goes X. Along with Russ Meyer, Metzger had a patina of legitimacy - middle class couples went to a Meztger - or Meyer - film in safe, legit theaters. This was before so-called "porno-chic." (The best "porno-chic" film, of course, is Metzger's The Opening of Misty Beethoven - a re-telling of Pygmalion/ My Fair Lady.Radley Metzger did for S&M what Russ Meyers did for the bosom - fetish fare such as The Lickerish Quartet and The Frightened Woman were relatively successful - the middle classes of the 60s came out in droves. His Score and Camille 2000 were extremely successful. Playboy reviewed them and Andy Warhol declared "Lickerish" as his favorite film (he might've been cheeky).When it comes to bondage and erotica in film French director Just Jaeckin’s (who would join Metzger and Russ Meyers as safe, middle-class, softcore directors) adaptation of author Anne Cécile Desclosthe's (aka Pauline Reade) The Story of O pretty much set the bar for which all movies with this subject matter would be measured by, while over in America director Radley Metzger took note of this, seeing what Jaeckin had done with The Story of O, and said “Is that what you call sadomasochism?” (a theme that runs throughout his work) and with that mindset this American director brought us the film known simply as The Image, a film that is not at all shy with its subject matter. Indeed, it was largely released as The Punishment of Anne.The Image may have been an American production but it was shot in Paris, France and is based on the novel L’Image by Catherine Robbe -Grillet (published in 1956 under a pseudonym - this stuff could land you in jail back in the day), which leaves one to believe that France must have been one incredibly kinky place in the 70s. The story follows bored playboy, Jean who, while mingling amongst a group of wealthy socialites at a literary party, spots Anne, a ravishing blonde that immediately wants to know her better. Also at the party, and looking equally as bored, is Claire, an old friend of his who he approaches so that he learn more about this beautiful and mysterious blonde. Jean is quite surprised to find out that Clair and Anne are an item, as he had no idea that Clair swung that way.Turns out that Claire is the mistress of young Anne, cause why not, and she begins to draw Jean into her world of sadistic pleasures. Claire is a strong and powerful force, cold and cruel, while Anne’s submissive nature hides a volcanic desire that hints at who is actually in charge of this relationship. Then there is Jean, who is so drab and boring that it almost hurts to watch him on screen. He’s also the one who provides the godawful narration that is so intrusive at times that it’s almost as if we are watching an Audio Book version of the novel.The nature of Claire and Anne’s relationship becomes quite apparent to Jean when they visit a public garden and Claire orders Anne to steal a rose, and hide its thorny stem under her garter, then made to squat and P right in front of him. One might caught off guard, and not just the kinky act of public watersports, but the fact that we get quite the graphic close-up of Anne P-ing. This is not softcore porn, this is the real X, and later Claire forces Anne to perform many sexual acts with Jean as well, adding more moments of humiliation for Anne, but when we see the twinkle in her eyes we know that she is getting more out of this than her tormentors are.The movie is broken into eleven chapters, as we follow the bizarre and somewhat twisted threesome as they bounce from one sexual escapade to the another; – playing hide the fruit in a restaurant, O sex in an alley – and at one point Claire offers Anne to Jean so that he to take her on an outing to her shopping for lingerie, which ends up turning into a threesome with a cute shop girl.The tenth chapter “The Gothic Chamber” is the most intense, and the one that may put off some viewers (though if you made through all the graphic sexual acts and humiliations so far I’m betting you’ll make it the rest of the way) as the torture level is amped to eleven as Claire chains up Anne, fits her with a rubber bit gag and proceeds to stick her with heated pins. Jean joins in with some brutal flogging – not wanting to feel left out – but it’s when he has a passionate and sensual sexual bout with her that Claire loses it and attacks him with the whip. Jean tries to restrain Claire, as she goes totally bananas, but what’s really nice is that Anne steps in and clobbers Jean with a bottle of champagne and he is driven out of the house. “I’m going to leave now,” Anne says quietly to Claire. “But what will I do?” asks Claire, and right there we get a good inkling as to who was really in charge the whole time.This film is hot, and I mean super-hot, also not for everyone as the graphic nature of the sex scenes could certainly make some people a little squeamish, and the sexual torture and humiliation is entirely convincing - Robbe-Grillet knew her stuff (as did her hubby, Alain). This is not for the 50 Shades bunch. For me what makes this film a stand-out among films of this genre are the two leads performances, as they felt pure and with a level of authenticity one doesn’t expect to see in this type of film. Radley Metzger gave the world one of the best S&M films to date, but it would have been even better if they had lost that distracting narration.

This film is not about sex necessarily, although it has an arousing quality. It is more about the allure, pleasure, and passion of domination, submission, and power. These things are not always as they seem--sometimes, those in power are those who submit or appear to be "bottoms." The portrayal of Anne by Mary Mendum is quite moving. Her ability to appear serene and other worldly as she submits to violence and painful acts upon her body is profound and sometimes spooky. Her performance has a strength that captures both woman and girl, both powerful and vulernabilty. In fact, she is the most interesting character and position in this storyline--as she occupies different spaces of power while appearing submissive. Some of the imagery is a little too overtly phallic and swank for me, perhaps a relic of time--water shooting off, towers titled and erect, swinging tunes, and then there's Jean who is just not convincing to me. Spoiler: And it is apparent early on that Anne has actually granted him power over her, which is again demonstrated in the end when she clobbers him with a bottle. The dressing room detail would have been a little more interesting had the clerk been a young man. I would have liked to see Jean and Anne master that situation much better than another young woman. Claire is an extremely fragile character and feels important and fulfilled only through her relationship of power "over." She tests her appeal by including her nude photo in with Anne's and then does not claim it as her own. She seems to constantly be seeking sexual approval and rejecting it before she can be rejected. And then when Anne leaves her, she does not know what to do. It is this loss, this emptiness and uncertainty that drives her Jean, not the power of his "golden phallis." Such a complex film. Riveting and moving. A must see for anyone who is interested in experiencing BDSM and relationships of power/dom/sub. Not fluff. And please be careful to keep from children's viewing--it is very graphic and could be quite disturbing for people who do not enjoy or want to investigate watersports, graphic bondage, and all of the aforementioned power structures.

Ce Blu-Ray est vraiment excellent techniquement,surtout en tenant compte de l'âge du film (1975),c'est un réel progrès par rapport au dvd.L'histoire est captivante,les acteurs sont parfaits et la mise en scène sans faille.A recommander,mais à un public adulte tout de même.

One of the bether movie`s i have seen in the erotic them. like story of o and the pet. i love it

This 1975 erotic foray, by sex film auteur Radley Metzger, into the private S&M world of three individuals was very hot and controversial stuff back when it was initially released, and still maintains some considerable erotic punch by today's standards.Based on a steamy French novel (L'Image - by Jean de Berg) of the same general vintage as THE all time classic of female sadomasochism: "The Story of O" - "The Image" tells the story of three people involved in a kinky master/slave relationship. The male protagonist of the tale discovers that a sophisticated woman of his acquaintance has an extremely submissive, and beautiful, girlfriend (Anne), with whom he becomes infatuated. As part of an evolving D/S 'game' the masterful mistress gives him 'full access' to her 'toy' and many very kinky and erotic scenarios are played out by the trio. Having read the book prior to seeing the film I was particularly impressed with the fidelity of the movie in portraying 'explicit' scenes from the novel. Sexy vignettes from the story, such as the lesbian mistress 'ordering' Anne to 'play with herself' in a bathtub, urinate in public, and an intense hardcore climactic tableaux involving whipping and needles in the breast are all graphically portrayed in the celluloid version. The film even follows the exact chapter headings and their content from the book - and there is a voice-over narrative lifted directly from the novel that links the scenes together. Like many sexploitation films of the 70's there is an 'edge' to the scenes in this movie that one will not usually find in today's 'glossier' sex flix. Photographed in Paris (where the source novel is also set) the cinematography and production values are excellent, and the cast is very attractive - especially the actress portraying Anne. While at first glance this film may seem off-putting from a 'feminist' perspective, as it appears to be heaping a lot of sexual abuse upon a woman - there is actually a subtle sub-text at play that reveals that the 'victim' is really the one in control and exhibitting enormous strength. As an example of a 'female oriented' sado-maso fantasy film this is a much 'harder' take on the subject than was provided by Just Jaekin's fuzzy lensed cinematic version of "The Story of O" (from the same 70's period), resulting in a more highly charged erotic viewing experience. This movie IS 'X' rated with some graphic oral sex scenes. Though no 'standard' penetration is shown 'things' do get 'inserted' and inventive humiliation scenarios abound, along with full nudity, as required by the plot.All that said, this is definitely one of those 'not for the squeamish' types of films, but if you like some intense kink in your cinema-rotic menu "The Image" remains (in my experience) one of the most stylish and satisfying theatrical takes on S&M play available.As a footnote: I just viewed the NEW (2011 Hi Def version (NOT BLU RAY!) released by Synapse and can report that it provides a remarkable visual improvement over the, previous, 2002 release. By way of comparison - In the 'explicitness' department the new version is the same as the previous 'un-cut/un-censored' release (both provide all the 'X' rated action) - the 'improvements' are found in the fact that the film is now in a true widescreen format and the color rendition has been so upgraded that, when compared to the 2002 disc, it is almost like 'watching the film for the first time'! Definitely worth the upgrade!

This is a very interesting, somewhat pretentious and very dated, film. The alternate title, 'The Punishment of Anne', gives a better indication of the theme. The film is sophisticated in a 1970s kind of way, full of high brow references to legitimise its dodgy erotica. The BDSM-ish sequences may be quite eye watering to the unsuspecting. Another sequence involving 'watering' a rose garden might raise an eyebrow or two. Nothing more shocking than more celebrated fare like 'Maitresse' though. An excellent quality DVD, highly recommended.

Loved every minute of it.... Rates right up there with the Story of O....