SPOILERS: The event that began World War I is mentioned here. If the movie Titanic was spoiled for people who knew the ship sunk, then my review has similar "spoilers" that are also known as basic facts of world history from the 20th century.
Set on an undisclosed European isle in the summer of 1914, this movie is part costume drama and part soft porn, with some espionage and political intrigue mixed in for good measure.
For those who've read the first book in Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series, "World's End", this will seem like old times with it's yacht cruises, painters, political discussion, and the dropping of names of many highly placed European personages, and the mentioning of the most prominent munitions manufacturers of the period, including Count Basil Zaharoff.
There is almost enough dialog, sometimes political and sometimes philosophical, to fill in the spaces between the nudity and sex, some of which is erotic, and some of which is absurd. For fans of Valerie Kaprisky, you may be disappointed after the first 10 minutes of the movie.
The film ends with the news of the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand and its importance to the main character of the film, a munitions manufacturer, which is shown next to the declaration of love by the other main characters, perhaps in some sort of suggested dichotomy of love and war within all men. But truly, it's the charm of this film that it hints at such concepts interspersed with ridiculous love scenes, and does so without any apparent shame.
Set on an undisclosed European isle in the summer of 1914, this movie is part costume drama and part soft porn, with some espionage and political intrigue mixed in for good measure.
For those who've read the first book in Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series, "World's End", this will seem like old times with it's yacht cruises, painters, political discussion, and the dropping of names of many highly placed European personages, and the mentioning of the most prominent munitions manufacturers of the period, including Count Basil Zaharoff.
There is almost enough dialog, sometimes political and sometimes philosophical, to fill in the spaces between the nudity and sex, some of which is erotic, and some of which is absurd. For fans of Valerie Kaprisky, you may be disappointed after the first 10 minutes of the movie.
The film ends with the news of the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand and its importance to the main character of the film, a munitions manufacturer, which is shown next to the declaration of love by the other main characters, perhaps in some sort of suggested dichotomy of love and war within all men. But truly, it's the charm of this film that it hints at such concepts interspersed with ridiculous love scenes, and does so without any apparent shame.