Two sisters during WW2 go totally different ways : one chooses to marry a resistance fighter while the other opts for full collaboration with the enemy and first shacks up with a German general and then with a ruthless SS-officer (are there any other ?). The whole story is partly based on a book by the notorious Marquis De Sade. There are some similarities with "Salo" by Pasolini, again set during WW 2 and that was about the most scandalous movie of the seventies
Ok : this is also pretty daring stuff for the sixties, even if it can't be that explicit as "Salo". It also boast a lavish budget : settings, uniforms and props are all topnotch and the cast has some well-known actors of that time.
But the big problem is that director Roger Vadim is seriously out of this depth with the large budget and story. Imagine what a seasoned French director as René Clement or Julien Duvivier would have made of this material ?
Some scenes work (like the party at the swimming pool) but that is mainly thanks to the leads who somehow make it believable but others scenes look amateurish or simply laughable. This is well demonstrated during the rather spectacular and violent finale when the US army storms the hidden stronghold but it all comes over very confusing.
Roger Vadim was great at seducing beautiful women and enjoying a very glamourous lifestyle, but as a movie director he has never been more then mediocre. His best movies rely heavily on the charisma and beauty of its female leads (like BB and Jane Fonda).
The BlueRay disc does credit to the excellent production values and the lush black-and white photography. Not much else on the bonus part, except a short interview with director Pascal Thomas (well-known in France but not outside). He found it alltogether a silly film as he considered the Nazis anything but 'libertines'!
Ok : this is also pretty daring stuff for the sixties, even if it can't be that explicit as "Salo". It also boast a lavish budget : settings, uniforms and props are all topnotch and the cast has some well-known actors of that time.
But the big problem is that director Roger Vadim is seriously out of this depth with the large budget and story. Imagine what a seasoned French director as René Clement or Julien Duvivier would have made of this material ?
Some scenes work (like the party at the swimming pool) but that is mainly thanks to the leads who somehow make it believable but others scenes look amateurish or simply laughable. This is well demonstrated during the rather spectacular and violent finale when the US army storms the hidden stronghold but it all comes over very confusing.
Roger Vadim was great at seducing beautiful women and enjoying a very glamourous lifestyle, but as a movie director he has never been more then mediocre. His best movies rely heavily on the charisma and beauty of its female leads (like BB and Jane Fonda).
The BlueRay disc does credit to the excellent production values and the lush black-and white photography. Not much else on the bonus part, except a short interview with director Pascal Thomas (well-known in France but not outside). He found it alltogether a silly film as he considered the Nazis anything but 'libertines'!