Twilight of Love (1977) User Reviews

I just don't give a damn anymore

[Alexander_Keith · 22 July 2005]

When I saw Twilight of Love (as it was called) on the fantastic Canadian Drive-In Classics my interest was sparked because it had Pam Grier in it. Never hearing of this movie before I set my PVR to watch it later but I check here on IMDb to find out a little background but there was no plot description, reviews or home video release information. I found that all very strange considering the cult following that Grier has and because of that I ended up staying up and watching the entire thing. W/in the first couple of frames it became quite apparent why Twilight of Love hasn't been painstaking restored because the copy that Drive-In Classics was broadcasting @ times looked like someone had driven over it in their drive way (including missing frames); plus there are some things I'm pretty sure would now have heavy copyright on them like the cans of Coke and a hockey game @ the Montreal Forum that had advertisements for KISS hanging all over the place (you know if something has the KISS name on it Gene Simmons has to get paid).

As for the plot of it all ~ Richard Butler; while looking for a fresh face to top his "perfect ass" advertising campaign spots the very boyish but still occasionally sexy Dyanne and tries to pursue a professional/personal May/December romance (even it is for only one night). Dyanne likes to play a lot of teasing games but Richard being an old man has little tolerance for such bs and becomes more and more irritable until he learns to play the game himself to keep from breaking down in his mid-life crisis. The entire ordeal is mostly scored w/ a melodramatic organ which sets the groan factor fairly high that when Richard (w/ about 10-15 minutes left , still not having gotten Dyanne in the sack and stranded on an island facing possible starvation and dehydration) reflects about his purist of Dyanne and he just "didn't give a damn anymore". That's was exactly how I felt: I just didn't give a damn anymore. The casting of Pam Grier (w/ nothing really to do but hang out on the beach in a bikini during her appearance in the 2nd half) does keep Twilight of Love from becoming a complete dog but mostly for Grier completests : if you can find it.

A bit boring, but with beautiful scenery and beautiful actresses

[lazarillo · 14 July 2016]

An ad executive (Anthony Steele) is looking for a new female face, or actually, uh, ass for his new blue jeans campaign. He spots a young girl in a co-ed sauna (who first sees from behind and mistakes for boy!). The girl (Annie Belle) encourages him and sexually teases him, even though she already has a husband/lover, and he becomes smitten with her, even though he already gets plenty of sex from other young models (poor guy!). After various erotic misadventures, he goes with her, her boyfriend, a photographer, and another model (Pam Grier--yes, THE Pam Grier) to a scenic island where they become stranded, and jealousy and passions erupt (. . .well, sort of).

This has some elements of an Italian giallo, but it's like one directed by David Hamilton. It has a very anemic plot and a lot of interludes with awful music (and also, to be fair, some good music). The cinematography is very beautiful, but the editing and the pacing is positively glacial. The director Luigi Scattini was a questionable talent, mostly known for documentary/mondo films like the ridiculous "Sweden Heaven or Hell". He did one quasi-giallo called "The Body" with beautiful African actress Zeuda Aruya, which I recall as being equally beautifully filmed and slightly more exciting than this one. Scattini probably wanted to film another beautiful actress of African origin in a "native" island setting, but American blaxploitation star Pam Grier is not nearly as good when she's not doing her own voice and she literally has nothing to do here, but run around in a bikini.

Anthony Steele was the husband of Anita Ekberg ("La Dolce Vita"), but HE was perhaps most famous for "The Story of O", a much more well-known, but equally insipid piece of 70's "erotica". His acting is limited, but he has a good look as a world-weary, ennui-filled older man left unsatisfied by years of sexual over-indulgence. The main strength of this movie, however, is Annie Belle, a beautiful French actress with a trademark bleach-blonde pixie cut and an absolutely PERFECT post-adolescent body. She appeared in any number of Italian exploitation films and softcore erotica during this era , even supposedly writing the screenplay for one of them (the "autobiographical" film "Blue Belle" aka "The End of Innocence"), even though she was only 18 or 19 years old at the height of career. She burned out quickly and largely disappeared, but she did leave quite a mark. Anyway, her frequent nude scenes were about the only thing keeping me awake sometimes. She is sexier all by herself than the gaggle of teenage Euro-models David Hamilton usually cast in his own to exercises of virtually plot less cinematography, largely because she could actually ACT a lot better than she was ever given credit for. This film is pretty slow-moving and boring , but it's always very nice to look at thanks to the beautiful scenery and beautiful actresses.