Good news for those of us who enjoy kicking back and watching funky foreign flesh flicks: MVD Entertainment has teamed up with the folks across the pond at Le Chat Qui Fume to bring us three vintage erotica movies from director Jean-Marie Pallardy.
Out of all the European filmmakers who were cranking out one softcore film after another during the '70s and '80s (and there were many), Jean-Marie Pallardy has managed to make a name for himself with moviegoers from several generations for his carefree style and his tendency to drop a lot of humor into his projects. Beginning his career as a male model in the '60s, Jean-Marie soon became “bored” with standing around striking poses all day long and decided things would be a lot more exciting if he were on the other side of the camera. After producing a handful of short films, Pallardy quickly made the move into feature-length films, producing several memorable (as well as non-memorable) skin flicks along the way.
We start out our journey through MVD’s first wave of Classics of French Erotica collection with My Body Burns (1972), one of Jean-Marie Pallardy’s first efforts, and the dullest entry in the set. The “story” (?) features a getting-darn-close-to-elderly village notary named Doug (Claude Sendron) who is the subject of most of the town’s gossip (provided by a male and female voiceover) due to his sexual habits (orgies and whatnot — which is perfectly acceptable in a prison town nowadays). In an effort to keep the shit-talkers at bay, some business acquaintances suggest that the notary get married. Easy, right? No, not even in a sex film are things easy: Doug’s latest young girlfriend Evelyne (Evelyne Scott) is willing to marry the old fart for his money (again, just like in a prison town) but things gets held up when Evelyne’s lesbian partner Michelle (played by the hard-to-look-at-when-you’re-looking-to-get-hard Angela Hansen) starts making threats — and the plan for a marriage soon turn into plan for a murder.
If you’re in the mood for something on par with those terribly amusing late-night Cable TV sex thrillers, My Body Burns will more than suffice. Everything about this movie is bad: the editing, acting, dubbing, photography… But my favorite problem is the lack of continuity — it’s so bad that you really begin to wonder if France has ever been introduced to Ritalin. Plus, co-star Angela Hansen’s butter face is one that need only surface once to engrain itself into your nightmares for all eternity. My Body Burns makes for ideal drunken entertainment on a Friday night.
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