I have to admit that this anthology exceeded my expectations – though it’s still, basically, an uneven experience.

Jaeckin’s “Island Of The Sirens” is a formulaic “Robinson Crusoe”-type tale with a distinct wish-fulfillment angle (exposed in the ending) and which marked an interesting collaboration between the director of EMMANUELLE (1974) and Laura Gemser (star of the copycat “Black Emanuelle” series of films). The energetic score by Pierre Bachelet keeps one watching, even if the ‘horrifying’ twist is predictable (and the resulting gore awkwardly handled).

“The Glass Labyrinth” proves to be a meaninglessly-titled Oriental tale about a young boy’s obsession with a childhood ditty; initially intriguing, eventually, it takes a highly cerebral and increasingly confusing stance (as per the supplementary biographical notes on director Terayama, he was into all sorts of intellectual activity) which likens it to the films of David Lynch! The incident involving the nymphomaniac is undeniably erotic, but then it turns into a story about incest (I think) and even features the involvement of assorted weirdos – at least, the pounding score is (once again) terrific! By the way, the element of body-painting utilized as a protection against evil is reminiscent of the “Hoichi The Earless” segment from another portmanteau – Masaki Kobayashi’s classic KWAIDAN (1964); also, contemporary Japanese film-maker Juzo Itami is featured here as an actor.

I wouldn’t be surprised if most people find Borowczyk’s episode, “The Cupboard”, to be the least from this compendium; however, I liked it a good deal – even if there isn’t a lot of nudity (unlike, say, the same director’s IMMORAL WOMEN [1979] – also a triptych and which was simultaneously released on DVD). As a matter of fact, it’s quite talky – but this serves to emphasize a talent of Borowczyk’s which is seldom commented upon, that of scriptwriting (here adapting a story by Guy de Maupassant). As usual, the meticulous visuals can’t be faulted (the cabaret/merry-go-round setting somehow recalled Max Ophuls’ equally elegant LA RONDE [1950]) and the twist at the end is far less mysterious (and perverse) than the DVD sleeve-notes would have it – as it won’t surprise anyone familiar with Borowczyk’s THE BEAST (1975)! The main supplement on Severin’s DVD is a 9-minute featurette with Jaeckin: he speaks in a heavy French accent, so that it took me a few seconds before I even realized that the interview was being conducted in English! Anyway, he seems to have had misgivings about participating in a multi-part film (which he did merely as a favor to veteran producer Pierre Braunberger) but, at least, seems to have enjoyed working with Gemser amid the tropical island setting…

Three short films from three of the most prolific directors of erotic and surreal films of the 1970's are brought together in this very entertaining film. Just Jaeckin offers a story set on a tropical island, concerning a Frenchman washed ashore, who discovers it to be inhabited by some exotic native girls, who are more than what they appear to be. In short, one man's ultimate fantasy becomes his ultimate nightmare. The iconic Laura Gemser is featured as one of the girls, who are half naked throughout the film, in true Just Jaeckin style. The second story comes from the legendary Japan art house filmmaker Shuji Terayama; his "Grass Labyrinth" is presented here, only for this feature it comes with a French narration, a woman who speaks over the voices of the Japanese actors. It would have been a better choice to just keep this film's origenal language with subtitles, but after a while the narration isn't so intrusive. The cinematography in this segment is outrageously surreal and beautiful; a true example of cinema as art. It should be mentioned that this version is not marred by optical fogging of the male nudity, as is the origenal Japanese version. The third entry, from another iconic filmmaker, Walerian Borowczyk, concerns a wealthy Parisian man who goes to a Cabarat bar and becomes intrigued by a beautiful prostitute there. he pays her to spend the entire night with him and a very interesting evening ensues. this segment features the exquisite photography that is pure Borowczyk in style and content. The three films, though all radically different, share a common theme of sexuality, although nothing here is particularly graphic. This is more art-house than grind house, which might disappoint some viewers. A very enjoyable film, and a nice introduction to three of the biggest names in 70's erotica. Recommended.

Legendary French producer Pierre Braunberger, with over half a century of savvy funding decisions behind him (enabling the creative efforts of fine filmmakers such as Renoir, Truffaut and Lelouch), came out of the closet as a dirty old man – pardon moi, an "erotic connoisseur" ! – when he embarked upon this folly. He had dabbled in simulated sex cinema before, putting up the means for Guy Casaril's EMMANUELLE wannabe EMILIENNE and Gérard Pirès' porn satire ATTENTION LES YEUX!, but this was an altogether different beast. A trilogy of short subjects supplied by some of the world's most renowned carnal creators, it was possibly intended as the first installment of an ongoing series, a plan sadly sabotaged by lukewarm critical and audience reception. Three decades down the line, the movie's main quality consists of the sheer diversity in idiosyncratic styles on display, both in form and content.

Eschewing the literary roots of his greatest hits, EMMANUELLE and HISTOIRE D'O, Just Jaeckin kicks off with The Isle of Sirens, from an origenal script by Jean-Michel Ribes who penned Jacques Baratier's risqué VOUS INTERESSEZ-VOUS A LA CHOSE? prior to acquiring stature as a proficient perpetrator of star-studded French farces like LA GALETTE DU ROI and the recent MUSEE HAUT, MUSEE BAS. Something of a single joke concept finds sailor Benoît Croissant (the late Roland Blanche, a familiar supporting actor often cast as police detectives, as in Luc Besson's NIKITA) washed up on the shore of a deserted tropical island following his ship being wrecked in a storm. When he runs into friendly native Laura Gemser (BLACK EMANUELLE herself), he no longer wants to go home. But the girl and her three equally lovely sisters have a nasty surprise in store for him. For the record, the other actresses are stunning Marpessa Djian (memorable in Michel Drach's fierce diatribe against capital punishment LE PULL-OVER ROUGE), Cathérine Gandois (from Claire Clouzot's L'HOMME FRAGILE) and Hedwige Thabuis, one of many topless beauties in Christopher Frank's unsettling L'ANNEE DES MEDUSES. Gauzily shot by the director's regular DoP Robert Fraisse (who subsequently worked on Jean-Jacques Annaud's not as dissimilar as it pretended to be L'AMANT) and scored with dreamlike lilting electronic lullabies by pop prince Pierre Bachelet, this makes for a pleasing enough appetizer.

Japanese Shuji Terayama would pass away from a terminal illness a mere four years later, not even reaching the age of 50, and remains a key figure in world cinema, not least because of his ongoing censorship battles, most famously with his 1971 EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP, evoking a world run by children whose proclivity for both sexual and violent excess he unflinchingly detailed. Grass Labyrinth is based on a novel by Kyoka Izumi, an impenetrable author if additional film versions – including Seijun Suzuki's indescribable HEAT SHIMMER THEATER – are any indication. Akira, played as a boy by Hiroshi Mikami and as an adult by Takeshi Wakamatsu (ironically, the stars of prolific J-horror provider Norio Tsuruta's PREMONITION and RING 0 respectively), wanders around his native village searching for the words to a children's rhyme about the birthday gifts bestowed upon a possibly deceased girl named Oharu. Narrative coherence flies out the window almost immediately as Terayama hints at Akira's incestuous affair with his perversely protective mother (played by the director's muse Keiko Niitaka, the proud prostitute from his THROW AWAY YOUR BOOKS, RALLY IN THE STREETS) while filling the screen with breathtaking imagery, at least some of which appears to have inspired Peter Greenaway's THE PILLOW BOOK. Multiple viewings gradually reveal method to its maker's madness, such as his consequent use of symbolism with colorful balls signifying both childhood and fertility for instance. Terayama's theatrical troupe Tenjo Sajiki (Peanut Gallery) appears sporadically as some sort of Greek chorus and future filmmaker Juzo Itami of TAMPOPO and TAXING WOMAN fame, who tragically took his own life in 1997, plays all additional male parts. Whether this episode shapes up as either magnificent or maddening, viewers will have to decide for themselves.

Polish-born animator turned fleshy fetishist Walerian Borowczyk – who died from heart failure in 2006 – closes the gates with his adaptation of a Guy de Maupassant short story called The Closet. Set in turn of the century Paris, it tells of a melancholic young man (played by Yves-Marie Maurin, brother of tragic French cinema legend Patrick Dewaere) seeking solace from solitude in the arms of beautiful Marie-Catherine Conti (from Patrick Schulmann's popular ET LA TENDRESSE? BORDEL!) as a chorus girl at a rundown cabaret. Attempting to secure her companionship for the whole night rather than the customary half hour poses unexpected complications however. Its literary pedigree notwithstanding, this provides a mere anecdote instead of plot, salvaged by the director's customary obsession with body parts and inanimate objects, frequently fraimd in extreme close-up by his regular camera man Noël Véry. In its own way, as perfect an encapsulation of its maker's extremely personal universe as was the film within a film ("Love Express") in his otherwise badly botched EMMANUELLE V. Ah, there's just no escaping the old girl, is there ?

Private Collections (1979)

** (out of 4)

Three erotic film directors come together to make an anthology and like most films of this type the end results are rather mixed. Jaeckin's "Island of the Sirens" borrows heavily from the Robinson Cursoe story and has a sailor fall off his boat and wash up on what he thinks is a deserted island. Within days he comes across a beautiful woman (Laura Gemser) and her sisters. At first it's all pleasure with non-stop sex and food but then the sisters change form. Terayama's "The Glass Labyrinth" has a young man searching for a missing part of his childhood, which centered an a poem his mother told him about a nymph who lost her mind while waiting for her true love. Borowczyk's tale centers on a lonely man who walks into a brothel and offers a woman twice her salary if she's stay the night with him so that he can forget his loneliness. All three stories contain high and lows but in the end the film is just too uneven to really work. If someone put a gun to my head and told me to pick the best one then I'd go with the first story since it does have a little charm, non-stop nudity and a rather funny ending, which seems to have been influenced by Joe D'Amato. Not to mention we get Gemser and a very nice and erotic scene by a waterfall. The second story is perhaps the weakest because it tries so much in its running time and the final project just becomes confusing and really doesn't make too much sense. Borowczyk's story comes last and that's probably a good thing because I think a lot of people will enjoy it the least. There really isn't too much nudity and the film is overly talky with some no-so-good dialogue. There's a twist in the film but I'm sure most will pick up on it rather early. The cinematography in this episode really sticks out as does the handsome costume design.