Two young girls experience awakening sexuality in the heated atmosphere of a Swiss girls’ boarding school.

Eric Henderson @ Slant Magazine wrote:
“The lush Therese and Isabelle presents a portrait of lesbian romantic bliss that’s refreshingly indifferent to the context of patriarchy. The titular boarding school girls don’t turn to each other because they intend to rebuff the callousness or insensitivity of men (as Alley Cats’s Irena seems to), and neither does their sexual bond form out of necessity due to a lack of male contact (the coffeehouse down the street provides ample opportunity for both to attract the attention of horny—and sensitive—French students). So, with all due efficacy towards the political value of indignant lady anarchists, Metzger focuses his concerns on a more effervescent level: one of remembrance of a love lost (nudged forth by Georges Auric’s swooning, enraptured Peyton Place-esque score).

Therese and Isabelle is a delicately-structured lament, flashing between the present day Therese, who is shown mournfully wandering the halls of her alma mater, and back 20 years to her great psychological debut into the world of lesbianism under the spell of the blonde free spirit Isabelle. (It’s unclear as to whether or not the present day Therese remains homosexual, and Metzger reportedly scrapped an alternate ending that showed Therese’s husband waiting outside the school grounds.) Metzger juggles the two chronologies with subtle parallel movements and edits, and the sense of failure and hurt hangs over each blissful reminisce. Metzger would go on to direct far more explicit films without sacrificing eroticism, but he rarely had as powerful a helping hand as the lubricated vocal chords of Essy “Purr” Persson, whose soft, epiglottal delivery of the film’s reams of descriptive frippery during sex scenes move visual suggestion into sensual ecstasy. And the total lack of irony that characterizes the film (emotional verité) remains a welcome anomaly.

Therese.and.Isabelle.1968.DVD.AC3.2.0.x264-SaL.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 57 min
Size: 	1.52 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	688x276 ~> 688x305
Aspect ratio:  	2.25:1
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	1 649 kb/s
BPP: 	0.362
Audio
#1:  	English 2.0ch AC-3 @ 192 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/476D00312BE2EF8/Therese.and.Isabelle.1968.DVD.AC3.2.0.x264-SaL.mkv

https://rapidgator.net/file/1be5b1ba9f234bfa2623b0552c9d3a4d/Therese.and.Isabelle.1968.DVD.AC3.2.0.x264-SaL.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Radley Metzger – Therese and Isabelle (1968) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

“As the 1960s drew to a close, European erotica really had its work cut out for it. In particular, Sweden, the country known for crashing American art houses with racy dramas, found itself competing with other countries like France and Italy to produce the latest scandal du jour. Budgets got bigger, acting got better, and plots became richer as directors tried to push the envelope, and no one benefited from this more than director and distributor Radley Metzger. Vibration (Lejonsommar) was released overseas hot on the heels of Metzger’s Therese and Isabelle, also starring the fascinating and talented Essy Persson, and it shows the increasing influence of directors like Ingmar Bergman (who, lest we forget, was also promoted at first in the U.S. more for his flashes of skin than his artistic merit). Arty editing, sun-dappled cinematography, and joyous sexuality are the order of the day here, and Vibration is a breezy reminder of what softcore was like just before Sweden’s next big shocker export, I Am Curious (Yellow).

During one tranquil summer, struggling writer Mauritz (Sven-Bertil Taube) takes a trip to a provincial Swedish island where he meets vivacious golden girl Barbro (Margareta Sjödin). The two begin a langorous affair mostly enjoyed in the great outdoors. Their idyllic love is torn apart, however, when his eye is caught by free spirit film actress Eliza (Persson), whose vacation plans include introducing Mauritz to the wonders of mod parties, motorcycle racing, and hot sex in greenhouses. Which lady will ultimately win his heart?

Vibration in many ways marks a strange collision between the dreamy eroticism for which Sweden had become known and the attempt to appeal to swinging teen audiences as well. The camera’s tendency to drift in for painterly close ups of hands, feet, and other body parts makes for a dreamlike experience (and cuts down on dubbing problems as well), while the catchy lounge music keeps the story from drifting too far off into the ether. As usual Persson really dominates the screen when she appears, and as with Therese, the whole story is rendered as a flashback by the striking actress, who possesses an uncanny ability to change appearance from a world weary woman to a giggly schoolgirl with the flash of a smile.” – Mondo Digitalfilm

699MB | 1h 24mn | 608×368 | avi

https://nitroflare.com/view/989F3F261AFFC56/Vibration.avi

Language(s):English (dubbed)
Subtitles:None

The post Torbjörn Axelman – Lejonsommar AKA Vibration (1968) first appeared on Cinema of the World.