Bilitis

France / Italy 1977, 94 minutes
Dir. David Hamilton
In French with English subtitles
Rating: [R18]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama / Lesbian

Topics: Rites-of-passage.

Feat. Patti D'Arbanville

Aroview: Tissue-thin sex drama from famed 1970s photographer Hamilton (he of those misty images of nude or lace-clad women), going into dreamy soft-focus over the sexual awakening of a young French student (D'Arbanville) in Edwardian England during a summer holiday.

As might be expected, the imagery has a fetching evocativeness, but the psychology is left by the wayside amidst all the tantilising disrobing. Based on the novel 'Chansons de Bilitis' by Pierre Louys.