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Released by: Impulse Pictures
Released on: April 1, 2006.
Director: Mac Ahlberg
Cast: Harry Reems, Marie Forsí¥, Anne Bie Warburg. Kate Mundt, Brigitte Maier, Lisbeth Olsen, Louise Frevert, Lone Gersel, Irene Lindholm
Year: 1975
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The Movie:
Loosely based on the notorious story by the Marquis De Sade, Justine & Juliette is a modernized tale of loose morality based upon the two titular females who were thrown out of their aunt's home at a young age with only a one-way bus tickets and their feminine charms about them. Justine is a little on the conservative side, but Juliette likes the boys and has no problem fooling around with any of them who cross her path. We see this sexual appetite in action when a stranger picks the two girls up and she rides him while they drive. When they finally get to town, Justine leaves her sister with her new playmate and sets out on her own, fed up with her immorality.
Justine uses the last of her money to get a hotel room, a rather basic one, while her sister flaunts about in the mansion of the rich man she rode into town on, and periodically boffing him in the bathtub. Julliette is spoiled by her new man who takes her to a night club where they watch a live sex show where women masturbate and couples get it on right there on stage in front of the crowd before the performers act out a strange fairy tale of sorts that seems to be loosely based on the biblical story of Lot, amidst much colored lighting and dry ice before going back into orgy mode.
Juliette's new boy toy gets her a job after the show by handing her a wad of money and telling her to go to an address that he writes down for her. Meanwhile the creepy old man who runs the hotel has made his way into Justine's hotel room and accuses her of damaging the place. He tries to force himself on her but she knocks him out, while Juliette meets her new employers, a group of eccentric and decadent rich folk who intend to use her in their brothel after she convinces the madam that she is a virgin and they watch some porn with Harry Reems in it on a television set. She starts immediately and instantly becomes a favorite among the clientele.
Eventually the sisters reunite, and Juliette shows off her success and her fancy digs to her sister who, despite her morals, isn't doing nearly as well in the finance department. Juliette sets Justine up with a gig at the night club she'd been to earlier but it doesn't work out, she can't do live sex on stage, it's just no in her. When she returns to her sister's quarters she finds that she is throwing a party and she winds up talking with a man named Robert while other couples get it on around them. He takes Justine back to his place and after a few drinks manages to work his way into bed with her. The next morning they have breakfast and he talks about their future together, and soon they're tooling around in his fancy speedboat and living it up together. What Justine doesn't know is that Robert is selling the film's he's been shooting of her in private and using them to his advantage, not hers. Speaking of filming, it turns out that the Harry Reems (playing a man called Mr. Miller) footage that was shown to Juliette earlier wasn't video footage but live footage that the madam had been recording of him in action to use for her advantage! As luck would have it, Harry is a rich guy who is just wants to spend his time and money fucking and drinking with beautiful prostitutes until the good Lord takes him away as he hasn't got much time left on this Earth and whoever's arms he dies in will inherit a whole lot of his money.
Is Robert selling Justine into a life of prostitution against her will and using the film as a demo reel? Is Juliette going to keep on fucking strangers for money? What will Harry Reems think of all of this? Things get complicated when Justine finds out about Robert's hidden agendas though she finds some of the footage he shot of other girls in action strangely arousing. Is she turning into a porno freak? And why is there a black light neon portrait of Chairman Mao hanging in Robert's apartment? Is he a commie? The guy drinks so much Chivas Regal he should own stock in the company - obviously he cannot be trusted.
Maybe the two sisters are more alike than we first thought….
Aside from the novelty of seeing Harry 'Deep Throat' Reems dubbed into Swedish and dancing some funky disco dance at the party towards the end of the movie, Justine And Juliette offers some truly fantastic cinematography that shows why director Mac Ahlberg (credited as Burt Torn) has had such a successful career behind the camera. Plenty of slow, languid shots of the love scenes make things seem classier than they really are and he does an excellent job of capturing the lush locations of the brothel and the decadence of the whole scene that the two girls find themselves falling into.
As much about the loss of one girl's innocence than anything else, the story may not offer anything overly original but the performances from the enchanting leads are solid enough to get the job done. They certainly look the part and seem to fall into place easily enough when the storyline calls for it. This being a full on hardcore film it might not appeal to those put off by pornography but the actual penetration footage is limited to some background footage and the occasional blowjob scene more often than not and while nudity is definitely a focus of this film, actual hardcore isn't so much, it's more of an accent than a central focus. Reems is as hammy and goofy in this film as he has been in most of his other movies (watch for a high speed sex scene with a couple of lovely ladies towards the end of the film and see his manic grin in action), chewing through the scenery and obviously having a really good time banging hot Swedish women. His presence adds some interest to the film, and some humor as well.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The anamorphic 1.66.1 widescreen transfer on this release is pretty decent, even if it isn't perfect. First and foremost, the movie is presented on this release completely uncut and without the optical fogging that was present on the Japanese release that come out a couple of years back. Video quality is pretty good, though there is some mild print damage present as well as some grain here and there. Skin tones look a little on the pale side in spots but the color reproduction is otherwise very nice.
Justine & Juliette is presented on this DVD in its original Swedish language with optional English subtitles that are clean, clear and easy to read. For an older mono track, things sound decent. If you listen carefully you might pick out some mild hiss in some spots but it's not overpowering so much as to really detract from the experience much at all.
Aside from a static menu and some chapter stops, this release is unfortunately a bare bones deal.
The Final Word:
Some extras would have been nice but that didn't happen. Regardless, those who dig vintage Swedish sex films ought to really get a kick out of Justine & Juliette as it's very well made, well acted, and extremely well photographed. The presentation isn't perfect but it's not bad either, and this is one that smut fans will want to check out.