A Very Curious Girl (1969)

Again this is one you have to attempt to view in the context of the climate in which it was released; in 1969 the Sisterhood would have been all over this like a rash and Nelly Kaplan would have been well on the way to canonization for turning in this tale of a chauvinist's plaything/sex object turning the tables and 'empowering' herself and by extension downtrodden women everywhere. There's just one flaw in the ointment. Marie, aged somewhere around 20 has (presumably) been treated as a doormat in general and sex object for the pleasure of both the men of the village and at least one lesbian landowner. She lives with her mother in squalor, which is a hut with no electricity/running water on the outskirts of the village. One day the mother dies and a light goes on over Marie's head: she's through being the village bike for free, now they'll have to pay to lay. AND THEY DO! Why? She hasn't suddenly become proficient in karate, developed a genius level IQ, or metamorphosed into a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot. Why would these men (and woman) who had been more or less raping her for years suddenly become pussycats and dance to her tune. They Wouldn't, of course; in reality they'd run her out of town on a rail BUT if you can accept this premise this is a neat little satire which hits 90 per cent of the targets it aims at and is funny with it.

Taken by her performance in the interestingly off-beat A Gorgeous Girl Like Me,I decided to take a look at actress Bernadette Lafont's other credits from the year.Looking round online for other Lafont movies,I stumbled upon one which sounded like a quality slice of French smut… I mean erotica,which led to me getting ready to find out how gorgeous this curious girl could be.The plot:Moving to a town in the countryside, Marie and her family are looked down upon by everyone,with all the men secretly groping Marie,thanks to no one listening to a word she says. Whilst cleaning up,Marie gets the tragic news that her mum has died after being hit by a car.Wanting to not see any of the villagers fake tears,Marie decides to bury her mother in the back garden (!) Disguised by how the town has treated her,Marie decides to turn the tables,by becoming the lone prostitute in the village. Used to having their way with her,the married men in the village secretly pay for her services,completely unaware that Marie is planning to show the true face of the village.View on the film:Joined by a cheeky Louis Malle as the reverent Jesus, (perhaps an in-joke over the response to Malle's The Lovers?) the very sexy Bernadette Lafont (who appears naked) gives an excellent performance as Marie.Starting the movie nervous and curled up in the corner, Lafont rolls out Marie to reveal a quick-witted pragmatic nature barely hidden behind Marie's risqué clothes.Looking at the village from the outcast perspective of Marie,the screenplay by co-writer/(along with Michel Fabre/Claude Makovski and Jacques Serguine) director Nelly Kaplan (a women director!) takes a satirical jab at the elite bourgeoisie lifestyle,by cleverly making everyone in the village expose their two-faced morals at the very first sight of the alluring vixen. Whilst offering some naughty flings,the writers mainly lace witty one liners which hit all the men trying to keep their good moral image,whilst secretly playing away with Marie.Soaking the village in a rustic grit,director Kaplan and cinematographer Jean Badal neatly balance the earthy shine by packing Marie's house with odds and ends brilliantly displayed which cast a rich bohemian atmosphere,as Marie reveals how curious she is.

Nelly Caplan directs a 1969 tale of rural French hypocrisy, sex and revenge. Well, OK, that makes it sounds better than it is.Marie lives with her mother, who then dies. She decides to revenge herself on the village for their treatment of her by selling her sexual favours to the men of the village from her woodland shack. Collecting watches appears to be her forte. The women and the priest eventually get outraged. She then gets revenge (of a sort).Marie is a typical moody but seductive Frenchwoman. Sadly the promise of eroticism is not delivered. The tawdry side to life is suggested rather than explicit, and there is but a smattering of light nudity. However the whole thing is rather harmless when looked at from 21st century eyes. A modest little flick.

...but in 1969,she began to stand on her own two feet.And it was a masterstroke."La fiancée du pirate" was a highly successful movie which has stood the test of time quite well.Marie (Bernadette Laffont's vulgarity works wonders here) and her mother have always been outcasts ,living outside the village in a hut.Marie works on a farm where the lesbian farmer exploits her sexually and economically,and all the guys around treat her like a whore.When her mother dies,Marie does not want any religious funeral.Then begins Marie's revenge.Now she makes all the men from the village pay for her charms .She will turn all the hypocrite mean bourgeois's life upside town ,and her wholesale massacre comes to a head in the church where a tape recorder reveals the secrets ,warts an all.Nothing intellectual here,but a good sense of humor.It proves that sex can lead to (local) woman's lib.