Laure (1976)

17th Sep 09





Plot
Young travelling filmmaker falls in love with hot chick with buzz cut and proceeds to shag her all over the Philippines. There's also lots of talking, and something about visiting a strange tribe. I dunno, I just work here.

Review
Most of you will recognise Al Cliver's name from his impressive CV which reads like a who's who of eurocult cinematic gems. Working alongside such directors as Jess Franco, Joe D'Amato, and more prolifically Lucio Fulci throughout the 70s and 80s, that man whose real name is Pierluigi Conti has long given up acting, and while his celluloid legacy may be defined as Brian Hull - sun worshipping skipper in Zombie Flesh Eaters - he was also busy shagging in front of the camera for some time in the early 70s, in The End of Innocence, A Wave of Pleasure, Black Emmanuelle, White Emmanuelle, and of course Laure.

Another flesh-happy release from our friends at Severin, Laure tells the tale of young filmmaker Nicolas (Cliver) travelling with his camera through Manila, where he meets Laure (Annie Belle). The pair fall in love, have much sex, and meet other people who Laure also experiments with, encouraged by Nicholas who likes to watch. So it's basically a cycle of shagging, philosophising about life, love and sex, meeting new people who have similar interests, and of course more shagging in a variety of locations (including a helicopter). The main plot is about their journey to a remote island, which is home to the forgotten Mara tribe, though I use the word 'plot' very loosely indeed.

So, what is it all about, exactly? It's basically an Emmanuelle rip off, mostly notable for having Emmanuelle Arsan (author of the Emmanuelle books) on writing and directing duties. Except it's not quite that simple, apparently. Emmanuelle Arsan was in fact a pseudonym for French author Marayat Rollet-Andriane, but it was her husband Louis-Jacques Rollet-Andriane who penned the novels under the Emmanuelle moniker, and therefore it must be him who wrote and directed Laure, right? Glad we cleared that one up. It so happens that Marayat Rollet-Andriane also features in this movie, in one of her very rare onscreen roles, billed, of course, as Emmanuelle Arsan. Phew.

This is the first soft-core sex movie to be reviewed at eatmybrains.com, and judging by Severin's output, it probably won't be the last. Their back catalogue also comprises Laura Gemser smorgasbord Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade, Black Emmanuelle / White Emmanuelle, Black Emmanuelle 2, and Emanuelle Around the World, and although yours truly is yet to witness what these erotic treats have in store, one can pretty much guess that they won't differ from what Laure offers - exotic locations, a woman exploring sexuality, plenty of men willing to help her exploring said sexuality, and a lot of pretentious philosophical musings.

That said, there's some great eye candy here, but what do you expect? Annie Belle (House on the Edge of the Park) is a pleasure to behold, presenting herself in the nude as much as possible, and sporting a really cool platinum blond buzz cut. Recruited as a replacement for the originally cast Linda Lovelace, she exudes a real eroticism which borders on the mystic, an element suitably complimented by the striking Philippines location cinematography.

Although Cliver and Belle - who were in an off screen relationship at the time - don't appear to have a magical onscreen chemistry, Laure goes down as one of Cliver's more assured performances. But perhaps seeing Al in proper acting mode isn't enough to make you want to go buy this movie, and I can understand that. I'll be the first to admit that after about 60 minutes of very nice location photography and soft-core shagging, I was dying to see some zombies get their rotting asses kicked instead.

Posted by
Zomblee



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