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Released by: Synapse Films
Released on: 6/14/2011
Director: Radley Metzger
Cast: Carl Parker, Marilyn Roberts, Rebecca Brooke
Year: 1975
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The Movie:
Made directly after his look into the lives of some bisexual swingers, 1975's Score, Radley Metzger's The Image, like its predecessor, flirts with hardcore pornography quite liberally without quite taking the plunge the way his pseudonymous Henry Paris pictures would. Based on the French novel L'Image by Catherine Robbe-Grillet writing as Jean de Berg and alternately known under the titles The Punishment Of Anne and The Mistress And The Slave, here Metzger leaves his swinging couples for a look into the kinky world of BDSM.
The film revolves around a man named Jean (Carl Parker) who works and lives in Paris where he meets two beautiful women at a party: a pretty meek young lady named Anne (Rebecca Brooke as Mary Mendum) and her stern, slightly older mistress, Claire (Marilyn Roberts). They welcome Jean into their world and before you know it he's hanging out at a rose garden with them where Claire essentially guides Jean through their world using Anne in whatever way she sees fit. This can and does involve some sexual water sports and a painful looking encounter with the thorns on some of those aforementioned roses. Jean is game, very game, and so they bring things up to the next level.
Soon enough, the couple has become a threesome and they're getting their kinky kicks all over the 'city of love,' be it in a posh restaurant or the dressing room of a clothing store. As Claire's treatment of her 'slave' becomes increasingly harsher, Jean starts to wonder just what's going on in her head, how much of this Anne can or will take, and what his role in this bizarre relationship really means.
Made before softcore Radley Metzger became hardcore Henry Paris, as has been mentioned, this film comes very close to full on XXX territory but only really shows oral penetration and keeps it just short of truly explicit. Not for the sexually squeamish, however, the film pulls no punches in its depictions of the ringer that Claire puts Anne through, tough it does so with more style and class than you'd probably think possible. The film is so beautifully shot that there's never any denying its artistic integrity, and Metzger manages to appeal to our brains as well as our libidos by putting strong character development front and center in all of the kink. There is a very definite sexual and psychological evolution occurring in the film, and it's this that makes the film as interesting as it is. The sex is certainly steamy and unusual, but Metzger has easily been outdone in this department by other full on XXX filmmakers - so it is to the film's credit that it's as well written and well acted as it is.
Performance wise, Carl Parker is very good as Jean. Metzger used him a year earlier in Score where he played the handyman, Mike, and you can see why he'd want to use him again. He's daring and smart and he fits the role well. Beautiful Rebecca Brooke, probably better known for her work with Joe Sarno than with Metzger (who she was romantically involved with while the film was being made) but he really coaxes a fantastic performance out of her. She has a vulnerability and naivety to her work here that really lets you appreciate what she's going through. Throw in the remarkably cold Marilyn Roberts as the 'mistress' in the mix and it's pretty hard to think of a more perfect trio than the one Metzger had to work with here.
A film that brilliantly blurs the line between pleasure and pain, master and servant, The Image isn't a film for all tastes - it gets appropriately cruel and degrading and is, as it should be, periodically uncomfortable to watch - but it's so beautifully made and psychologically harrowing that its status as an erotic classic is entirely deserved.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Synapse's AVC encoded 1.85.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer is excellent. The original DVD release looked great for its time but technology has come a good way since then and this high def offering really lets us appreciate the film's gorgeous cinematography even more. There are no problems with print damage at all and the film's grain structure is intact, showing no evidence of obnoxious noise reduction, edge enhancement or compression issues. Skin tones look nice and natural and color reproduction is not only impressive, but even sumptuous - the movie looks excellent here and its fans will most certainly be very happy.
Audio options are provided in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and DTS-HD 2.0 Mono, both tracks in English with optional subtitles provided in English SDH. There are no problems to report with either track, both sound just fine. Purists will appreciate the mono mix would we can safely assume will sound pretty close to the original theatrical experience, while the 5.1 track carefully spreads out the score and some ambient effects quite well. Dialogue stays clean and clear and the music sounds excellent.
Extras are slim on this release, limited to a welcome isolated score track, a Radley Metzger filmography, and an insert booklet containing liner notes from Mondo Digital editor in chief and DVD Delirium author Nathanial Thompson that offers up some interesting context for the film.
The Final Word:
Nobody did art-porn like Radley Metzger and The Image is one of his finest films. While this release is light on extra features, the excellent audio and video quality make up for that and absolutely make this one worth the upgrade.
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