When a film captures the spirit of its time as magically as 'Monique' it deserves to be remembered. More in the realm of Pinter than the sex romp it is still described as this slow moving contemplation of an eternal triangle in suburbia is mesmerising and fascinating in its 1970 setting as the threesome explores the evolving allure between them. Most beautifully is the lacing of this quirky vision with the music of Bach modulated through various jazz style arrangements. This austere and noble accompaniment lifts the whole enterprise into the level of poetry. Appreciation of this film will grow I believe.
5 Reviews
Sex Non-Comedy
JamesHitchcock10 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The American Production Code was formally abolished in 1967, allowing Hollywood greater liberty to deal with sexual and other controversial subjects, and it was around the same time that Britain's equivalent of the Hays Office, the British Board of Film Censors, also began to relax its stance on these matters. In the late sixties and early seventies mainstream films began to appear which only a few years earlier would have been regarded as outright pornography. For some reason, however, many British film-makers could not think of sex without giggling and felt that if they were going to offer the public something titillating its erotic content would have to be leavened with a strong dose of humour. Most British sex films of this period were billed as "sex comedies"- the "Confessions" and "Adventures" series were typical examples- although in truth they were never very comic and, four to five decades later, do not come across as very sexy either.
The fact that the title character of "Monique" is a French au pair might suggest that this is a film of that nature. This was a time when au pair girls were standard male fantasy figures, and every blue comedian's joke book contained at least one crack about the randy husband who could not keep his hands off the au pair. They were stock characters in sex comedies; there was even an egregiously feeble sex comedy called "The Au Pairs". "Monique", however, represents a rare attempt by the British cinema to make a film about a sexual subject without any leaven of humour.
Bill and Jean are a young married couple who hire an au pair girl. This was originally Jean's idea because she needs help with looking after their two children, but when she sees how her husband looks at the pretty, leggy, mini-skirted Monique she begins to have second thoughts. Monique claims to have a boyfriend, Claude, back in Paris, but this does not prevent her from dating a local English boy, Richard. And whatever feelings she may have for either Claude or Richard do not prevent her from seducing Bill. And then from seducing Jean, who turns out to be bisexual, something previously unknown to Bill (and possibly also to Jean herself). You might think from this synopsis that the final scene will be set in the divorce court, but if this is not a sex comedy, neither is it a sex tragedy. Their mutual experience of seduction by Monique enables Bill and Jean to revitalise a marriage which, sexually speaking, had become stuck in a rut. Cue a threesome. All ends happily.
"Monique" includes a few touches, such as an attractive quasi-classical musical score and symbolic use of colour by the director, which I would not normally associate with sex films. I have never seen a film which makes such use of bright orange; a prominent object in this colour appears in many scenes. Was this colour meant to symbolise warmth and happiness? On the other hand, did it merely reflect a faulty colour print, and should all these oranges actually have been reds? (In one scene Bill dresses up in an orange rather than red robe while impersonating Father Christmas for his children).
This is not a cinematic classic. The plot, which would in 1970 have seemed very daring, today merely seems trite, and the dialogue is undistinguished, as is the acting. Yet it is an interesting example of the sort of thing the British cinema could do in the early days of the permissive era when it decided to treat sex seriously rather than for laughs. 5/10
The fact that the title character of "Monique" is a French au pair might suggest that this is a film of that nature. This was a time when au pair girls were standard male fantasy figures, and every blue comedian's joke book contained at least one crack about the randy husband who could not keep his hands off the au pair. They were stock characters in sex comedies; there was even an egregiously feeble sex comedy called "The Au Pairs". "Monique", however, represents a rare attempt by the British cinema to make a film about a sexual subject without any leaven of humour.
Bill and Jean are a young married couple who hire an au pair girl. This was originally Jean's idea because she needs help with looking after their two children, but when she sees how her husband looks at the pretty, leggy, mini-skirted Monique she begins to have second thoughts. Monique claims to have a boyfriend, Claude, back in Paris, but this does not prevent her from dating a local English boy, Richard. And whatever feelings she may have for either Claude or Richard do not prevent her from seducing Bill. And then from seducing Jean, who turns out to be bisexual, something previously unknown to Bill (and possibly also to Jean herself). You might think from this synopsis that the final scene will be set in the divorce court, but if this is not a sex comedy, neither is it a sex tragedy. Their mutual experience of seduction by Monique enables Bill and Jean to revitalise a marriage which, sexually speaking, had become stuck in a rut. Cue a threesome. All ends happily.
"Monique" includes a few touches, such as an attractive quasi-classical musical score and symbolic use of colour by the director, which I would not normally associate with sex films. I have never seen a film which makes such use of bright orange; a prominent object in this colour appears in many scenes. Was this colour meant to symbolise warmth and happiness? On the other hand, did it merely reflect a faulty colour print, and should all these oranges actually have been reds? (In one scene Bill dresses up in an orange rather than red robe while impersonating Father Christmas for his children).
This is not a cinematic classic. The plot, which would in 1970 have seemed very daring, today merely seems trite, and the dialogue is undistinguished, as is the acting. Yet it is an interesting example of the sort of thing the British cinema could do in the early days of the permissive era when it decided to treat sex seriously rather than for laughs. 5/10
Prefer the Wife!
kittenkongshow5 December 2019
Ok, I'm tempting comment with the title...but Joan Alcorn is better looking then Sybilla Kay to me.
Released on DVD in the slap & tickle series by Screenbound you'd be forgiven for expecting a 70's sex comedy - which while it has amusing moments it isn't.
At best it's a of it's time pot-boiler of a suburban couple finding sexual satisfaction with the 'help' of an au-pair.
At worst it's bloody dull.
Released on DVD in the slap & tickle series by Screenbound you'd be forgiven for expecting a 70's sex comedy - which while it has amusing moments it isn't.
At best it's a of it's time pot-boiler of a suburban couple finding sexual satisfaction with the 'help' of an au-pair.
At worst it's bloody dull.
It's not what you think!
shrbw13 February 2002
A new and more liberal censor was appointed in Britain in the 1960's, and one of the results was a rash of 'sexploitation' productions. (But only in the sense that they were able to show some nudity and suggest sexual activity - even by current 'soft core' standards, they were rather tame.) These films were cheap, tacky, and forgettable. But this one is different.
For a start, not only does it actually have a proper script, but the photoplay is literate and rather witty. The characters and the setting (suburbia in South East England) are believable. The acting, although not memorable, is good.
The approach is unique to the genre, in the sense that the sex is placed in some kind of context, whether it is the problematic marriage, the wife's hidden bisexuality, or the free spirited nature of the au pair. It includes a picture of ordinary family life,including the relationship between parent and child. And it appears to be the first British film to tackle the then hushed subject of 'troilism' (which was being featured in some of the tabloid papers at the time).
You will see very little sex in Monique. But you will see sexual tension that almost makes the screen crackle, genuine eroticism, and very witty observations. (All three of them are in bed, and drift into a conversation about the abstract painting on the wall. Perhaps it's hung at the wrong angle...so they all lean to one side.)
In panning the mud, a gold nugget has been found.
For a start, not only does it actually have a proper script, but the photoplay is literate and rather witty. The characters and the setting (suburbia in South East England) are believable. The acting, although not memorable, is good.
The approach is unique to the genre, in the sense that the sex is placed in some kind of context, whether it is the problematic marriage, the wife's hidden bisexuality, or the free spirited nature of the au pair. It includes a picture of ordinary family life,including the relationship between parent and child. And it appears to be the first British film to tackle the then hushed subject of 'troilism' (which was being featured in some of the tabloid papers at the time).
You will see very little sex in Monique. But you will see sexual tension that almost makes the screen crackle, genuine eroticism, and very witty observations. (All three of them are in bed, and drift into a conversation about the abstract painting on the wall. Perhaps it's hung at the wrong angle...so they all lean to one side.)
In panning the mud, a gold nugget has been found.
See "Baby Love" instead
lazarillo19 April 2009
A British couple with two young children decide to get a French au pair because the wife wants to enjoy a more rewarding life outside the house (and the husband wants to enjoy a more rewarding life INSIDE the house). They both get all that they bargained for and more when "Monique" shows up in the shortest of mini-skirts and knee-high go-go boots.
I find British the sex films of this era strangely endearing (and more enjoyable at least than the 16-mm cellulite-and-pimple extravaganzas of low-budget American filmmakers of the era like Harry Novak). Still, they are usually pretty incompetent, and it's not fair really to compare them too much with other films. As British sex films go, this one is most similar to "Baby Love" with Linda Hayden. But while that film was a rather preposterous melodrama, it did show what would no doubt really happen if a stranger moved in and sexually seduced every member of a family; this film, on the other hand, is more of a pure sex fantasy where everything can be papered over with a menage a trois at the end (which the British censors of the day mostly edited out). The lack of any drama here might not be such a problem if there were plenty of sex, but this film is only slightly more racy than "Baby Love" (which had been made a couple years earlier and when its star Hayden was only fifteen).
Rather than being too young like Hayden, the actress here Sybille Kay has the opposite problem--she looks way too old to be an au pair (she looks even older than the couple). She is definitely not unattractive, but she is not a seductive, teasing minx like Hayden. The actress playing the wife, meanwhile, is a pretty nice crumpet herself, which kind of makes you wonder why her husband is so anxious cheat on her.
This is OK but certainly a not a great movie. It's not any more sexy than "Baby Love" and it's A LOT more boring. It's a lot easier to find these days than "Baby Love", but I'd still recommend the latter movie instead which is very similar but much more entertaining.
I find British the sex films of this era strangely endearing (and more enjoyable at least than the 16-mm cellulite-and-pimple extravaganzas of low-budget American filmmakers of the era like Harry Novak). Still, they are usually pretty incompetent, and it's not fair really to compare them too much with other films. As British sex films go, this one is most similar to "Baby Love" with Linda Hayden. But while that film was a rather preposterous melodrama, it did show what would no doubt really happen if a stranger moved in and sexually seduced every member of a family; this film, on the other hand, is more of a pure sex fantasy where everything can be papered over with a menage a trois at the end (which the British censors of the day mostly edited out). The lack of any drama here might not be such a problem if there were plenty of sex, but this film is only slightly more racy than "Baby Love" (which had been made a couple years earlier and when its star Hayden was only fifteen).
Rather than being too young like Hayden, the actress here Sybille Kay has the opposite problem--she looks way too old to be an au pair (she looks even older than the couple). She is definitely not unattractive, but she is not a seductive, teasing minx like Hayden. The actress playing the wife, meanwhile, is a pretty nice crumpet herself, which kind of makes you wonder why her husband is so anxious cheat on her.
This is OK but certainly a not a great movie. It's not any more sexy than "Baby Love" and it's A LOT more boring. It's a lot easier to find these days than "Baby Love", but I'd still recommend the latter movie instead which is very similar but much more entertaining.
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