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Released by: Pulse Video
Released on: November 27th, 2020.
Director: Claude Mulot
Cast: Marilyn Jess, Richard Allan, Catherine Marsile, Hélí¨ne Shirley, Laura Clair
Year: 1981
Purchase From Vinegar Syndrome
La Femme-objet - Movie Review:
Wow. This 1981 Alpha France production, directed by Claude Mulot under his Frédéric Lansac alias (his last for the production company), is insane. The film focuses on the exploits of a perpetually horny writer named Nicolas (Richard Allan) who just can't find a woman with the ability to satisfy him until he meets a dark-haired lass named Sabine (Hélí¨ne Shirley). They hit it off, stopping after a tennis session to go at it in the backroom of a pub before heading home and going at it some more. Eventually though, the spark fades and she just doesn't want it the way he does. We see this when she pleasures herself and instead of joining in, he uses a radio control R2-D2 to continuously bump into her foot. We see this again when she's doing the dishes, all dolled up in fine French lingerie, and he takes her from behind… only for her to complain about his libido and continue with her chores.
She leaves him and he brings on a pretty blonde temp secretary to help with his manuscripts named Lucielle (Laura Clair). Of course, as soon as she gets to work that libido kicks in and he coerces her into doing some dirty deeds but eventually she too leaves his life. Lonely and perpetually in the mood, Nicolas takes a page out of his own script and heads into some sort of secret laboratory to build himself a PVC clad female pleasure robot (pronounced row-butt in the English dubbed version!) in the form of super fox Kim (Marilyn Jess). Somehow able to control her using the same remote control he used to control R2-D2, he has her take care of his problems anytime the mood strikes with the simple push of a button. So happy is he with his new toy that he has her take a turn on a director he's working with while he sits in his hot tub, watching and taking matters into his own hands (he stares at them in seriously creepy ways). This turns out to be a bad move, however, as soon after that Kim starts disobeying his remote control commands and doing her own thing, like jumping on top of the porter when he drops off Nicolas' mail one fine afternoon. Understandably upset, Nicolas decides that the only solution is to build himself another row-butt…this time a black chick (Catherine Marsile)!
In addition to multiple R2-D2 toy appearances (seriously, the little guy pops up all over the place in this movie and often during the more explicit moments!) and some gratuitous J&B product shots this one offers up a really fun story and plenty of bizarre moments to think about one once the end credits hit the screen. Without giving away the ending, the story actually does a pretty decent job of allowing Nicolas to go about his dirty business and therefore delivers the requisite number of bump and grind sequences but at the same time craft him as a fairly tragic character. The fact that he can't control his libido quite literally controls his life and keeps him from finding true love, as is made obvious when his relationship with Sabine comes to a close. Because of this there's a fair bit more depth here than you might expect and it actually ties together quite well once the film comes to its FIN.
The cast members all deliver some quality work here. The movie's success really hinges on Alpha France's regular woodsman Richard Allan and, while the English dubbing takes away from things a little bit, he's good in the role. There are times where he's involved with whichever one of the female co-stars you'd care to name where he definitely seems into it and going at it for the sake of satiating his own arousal and because he enjoys it, but so too are there scenes where he seems to be going at it to quell his thirst and put a stop to his uncontrollable desires. There's a dichotomy to his performance that works well. The ladies all do fine work too, with Hélí¨ne Shirley transforming her character Sabine from a wholly willing nymphomaniac into a cold, frigid, uninterested woman quite effectively. Clair and Marsile are also fun to watch but, this will come as a surprise to no one, Marilyn Jess steals the show. Without a single word of dialogue she's able to evolve from a slave with no will of her own into something more interesting and assertive through a completely silent sexually charged performance.
A wacky mix of sci-fi and sex loaded with some seriously off the wall moments, La Femme-objet (alternately known as Programmed For Pleasure and French Girls For Pleasure) is absolutely worth a watch.
La Femme-objet - Blu-ray Review:
La Femme Objet arrives on Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.66.1 widescreen. With the feature taking up 22.2GBs of space on the 50GB disc, the transfer is very good. There is some very mild sharpening noticeable in a few spots but otherwise this looks nice and film-like, showing great color reproduction and strong black levels. Skin tones look nice and natural, never too pink or too pale, and the increase in detail over the past DVD edition of the movie is quite substantial. There are no obvious issues with noise reduction or with compression artifacts, and all in all, fans should be quite pleased with how this looks.
The 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 French track, in the film's original language, is also excellent. The film plays much more seriously in French, though it still retains an obvious sense of humor, and the clarity of this mix is quite strong. Optional 16-bit dubbed options are provided in English, German and Spanish with optional subtitles offered in English only that translate the French track. The English dubbed version is quite humorous and it's great that it was included here as well.
Extra features start off with The Last Porno In Paris, a making documentary featuring insight from Marilyn Jess (aka Dominique Troyes/Patinette), Didier Philippe Gérard, Richard Allan, Francis Mischkind and Franí§ois that clocks in at fifty-five-minutes. There's talk here about how everyone came to work with Lansac, how Claude Mulot and Mischkind came to meet and collaborate and they trust everyone had in Multo's vision. There's talk here about his talents as a writer and director, how it was important to his creativity to keep his budgets modest but the support for his work high, where some of the ideas for La Femme-object came from, the comparisons for the Frankenstein story, casting the film, the importance of having Richard Lemieuvre (aka Richard Allan) and Marilyn Jess onboard, parallels between Lemieuvre's character and real life personality, how Jess got into doing porn in the first place through her husband, the different aliases that were used in addition to Marilyn Jess, how her character was named Kim after Kim Novak and how she supplied most of her own wardrobe for the film. They also cover their thoughts on S&M on films and their personal lives, the use of post-synched sound on the film, how Lemieuvre was living with one of his co-stars at the time the movie was made, difficulties involved in being the only male star in a quick shoot and the demands that you're under during those conditions, the lighting and cinematography employed in the film, what it was like on set and the self-described hedonism that played a part in the making of the movie, the professionalism of the crew, the locations used in the picture, the importance of showing faces as well as penetration shots, having photographers on set, the soundtrack, the importance of this film in Jess' subsequent career, what it was like for her to see the movie with an audience and how the whole sex robot idea was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy and the details of the film's interesting ending. This is great - very well put together, visually appealing, nicely edited and very, very interesting. If you've any interest in the history of this movie or those who made it, check this out.
Up next is a featurette where Francis Mischkind spends twelve-minutes explaining the restoration process that was involved in getting La Femme-objet into disc. Here we literallly see Mischkind and a lab technician inspecting the reels and transferring them digitally. Mischkind notes that the reels are '21 years old' when this was done, so what we're seeing is the DVD transfer being done. Regardless, we see them working on the transfer, doing some color correction and more. This was previously included on the older DVD release.
The disc also contains a Claude Mulot trailer reel featuring promo spots for Pussy Talk - le sexe qui parle, Le Derniere Nuit, Extases Extra-Conjugales, Echanges de Partenaires, La Grande Baise, Belles D'Un Soir, Le Sexe Qui Parle II, Internat D'Amour (better known as Les petites écolií¨res), La Rose Echorchee (aka Blood Castle), La Laignee, Les Charnelles and Sex Without Love (which is Les Charnelles under a different name). In addition, we also get a Marilyn Jess trailer reel with promo spots for Exhibition 79, St. Tropez 81, Le Soleil Les Dechaine, Bourgeiose Et... Pute!, Sens Interdits, Exifences Tres Speciales and Die Madchen Von St. Tropez.
Rounding out the extras on the disc is a trailer for the feature, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options. As to the packaging, Pulse Video has offered this with a beautiful limited edition slipcover designed by Earl Kessler Jr. available only if you purchase the disc directly from Vinegar Syndrome (who are distributing this disc in North America for Pulse).
La Femme-objet - The Final Word:
La Femme-objet is a completely off the wall feature filled with decent sex scenes and plenty of completely bizarre moments. Marilyn Jess is a treat to watch here though, and yeah, if you dig what Alpha France did so well, give this one a shot. It's a kick. Pulse Video are to be commended for bringing this to Blu-ray, the presentation is excellent and the extras are substantive as they are plentiful. Highly recommended!
Click on the images below for full sized La Femme Objet Blu-ray screen caps!
