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Released by: Cult Epics
Released on: 6/28/2011
Director: Radley Metzger
Cast : Daniele Gaubert, Nino Castelnuovo, Elenora Rossi Drago, Roberto Bisacco
Year: 1969
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The Movie:
Cult Epics brings to the table for the very first time an extended cut of Camille 2000, adding an extra fifteen minutes to the running time. Not only that, but they've delivered the goods and the film has never looked better on home video formats.
Marguerite (Daniele Gaubert) is a promiscuous little tart who will sleep with anyone for any reason. She is also into drugs and takes them a lot, suffering from some sort of affliction that seems to have gotten her hooked. Wealthy business man, Armand (Nino Castelnuovo), who is in Rome for work is instantly attracted to Marguerite and must have her. She has a boyfriend whom she is trying to help along in his goal of climbing the social ladder by sleeping around to give him a better chance. Armand falls hard for her and she starts to fall for him too, even though everyone tells Armand to stay away from her. That advice even comes from Marguerite herself. What ensues is lots of romantic rendezvous which ends with someone going home alone.
Visually speaking, this film is a treat. Aside from the fact that Daniele Gaubert is a breathtaking French beauty, there is plenty of eye candy in this movie. Not just nudity either (which might seem tame to most, but apparently for its time it was quite risqué); the fashions should draw gazes as well as the lavish locations, both interior and exterior. And the way the film was shot is very artistic in its composition and makes great use of the anamorphic widescreen format. In nearly every scene, something is going on that is pleasing to the orbs.
The acting seems of high-caliber, although being a dubbed film its harder to say “great acting jobs," since it isn't entirely the actors themselves doing all the work. At any rate, the players all seem competent and have a great classic presence on the screen. And as mentioned the fashions command attention, from the car styles, the weird neck-brace looking dress Marguerite at one point is wearing, to the inflatable clear plastic furniture. There's always something neat to look at. And the score deserves mention as well. Great 60s Euro-jazz kind of stuff complete with an awesome sounding organ. Some might laugh at its dated sound, but to these ears it's get down and groove time. Great stuff.
The pacing, however, is very slow. It's slow to the point of being boring. The story itself, based on a novel from the mid 1800s, is kind of a forbidden fruit, love triangle scenario sprinkled with eroticism in the form of near-motionless sex. Romantic drama may not be everyone's cup of tea, but even if it is your cup of tea there can be no denying the fact that this is a real slow cooker. But…if you can appreciate fine film making and enjoy the era this film was created during, the snail's pace aspect of Camille 2000 should be forgivable.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Presented here on this release as a 1080p AVC encoded transfer with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio. As far as Blu-rays go, there are far better looking discs out there. But, as can be seen in one of the extras, this is a restored version from a 35mm negative and compared to how it looked before, Camille 2000 looks very impressive on BD. This version looks as close to a 35mm presentation as it probably ever will, with glorious film grain ever present and with a clear, colorful image. Being the visual treat that the film is, the colors here look fantastic. Black levels look great, and the skins tones are spot on. There are flecks of white throughout the picture, at times more so than at others, but never the point of being annoying. Noise reduction and edge enhancement were not used in the restoration, and that should bode well with the purists. The audio is a mono 2.0 Dolby Digital track, clear of pops, crackles and hisses. The movie is dubbed, so the lips and words are not in perfect sync. The music and the dialogue are balanced nicely and there are no issues to report.
The extras are plentiful and a great batch to pour through. First is a commentary with Radley Metzger and film historian Michael Bowen, which is an excellent track. Lots of wonderful information and Mr. Metzger is very pleasant to listen to (although you might want to turn off the subwoofer during the commentary, as his voice seems to excite the woofer) and Bowen does a fine job extracting said info from the director. There are periods of silence in the track, but they turn the volume of the feature back up during these times which was a good decision. Next is “On the Set of Camille 2000†(30:26) which has lots of great home video footage taken during principle photography, and Metzger delivers commentary on this as well. “The Restoration of Camille 2000†(6:28) shows before and after footage and explains why they left the white specs in there. What an amazing job they did. “Sylviana's Bare Striptease†(2:47) follows and shows a striptease done during the movie in its entirety. This has not been restored but they intercut segments of the restored portions that exist in the movie. An alternate take of the “cube love scene†(1:52) is just what it sounds like (the version they used is of course superior), and finally some trailers for other Radley Metzger films: Score and The Lickerish Quartet, as well as the trailer for Camille 2000.
The Final Word:
Impressive film making, and an impressive presentation, together with some great supplemental material make this release well worth obtaining.
Click on the images below for full size Blu-ray screen caps!
