Cyril and Fiona, a free-wheeling married couple, travel to a tropical coastal town to follow their sexual fantasies. Cyril is a manipulator. There, they meet another couple, Catherine and Hugh, and their three children. Hugh is a one-armed photographer who specializes in nude photographs of peasant women. Soon, they decide to live together and an erotic atmosphere develops between them.
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Reviews
By twenty minutes into the film, I was already tired of hearing Fiona call Cyril and Hugh "Baby" every few minutes. As the story progresses, she continues to say "Baby" at least fifty more times. This gets extremely old very quickly.I found the disjointed, time-jumping method of story-telling to be a bit hard to follow.Also, I think that the sexual nature of the relationship between the two couples started too quickly after everyone met. It seemed unnatural. There should have been a more gradual progression toward full swap. I'm still not sure what the point or moral of this story is.The chastity belt scene was really hard to watch. Hugh is a sick, twisted, sadistic bastard. What Kathryn could possibly see in him is a complete mystery. Also, I fail to see what Cyril sees in Fiona other than eye candy. Overall, I liked the movie for its exploration of open marriage and alternative sexuality.
I got this for my "Charles Dance" collection. Had seen "Angels and Insects", like many others, so that added to the appeal. Hope the book was better. The premise was fine - an attempt at a somewhat surreal tale of sexual intrigue. Aside from Dance, however, the performances were stilted and silly (especially Sheryl Lee, even if she was supposed to sound like she did - it was a distraction). The dialog certainly could have been written to better develop the characters. Pretty to look at, not enough erotica (and I don't mean soft porn, just erotic). But even Dance looked a bit silly with the "love lunch"...... I like it just enough to watch it again as part of my film library - and even to recommend it to friends who would see the value and look beyond the inane.
Sheryl Lee gets to play a dull-witted strumpet--now isn't that creative! Her supposed love interest, Colin Lane, is no heart-throb, but does get to play a tight-arsed boor. Charles Dance is good and likable, but cannot save this turkey. The decayed, picturesque Latin American village is photographed gorgeously, but the movie is better with the sound off.
While the acting wasn't fantastic, I found the movie interesting from the point of view of the way the open marriage of Fiona and Cyril was explored, and how it was treated by people viewing it from the outside. And how the new couple of Colin and Catherine reacted in different ways to the ideas presented, and how their feelings evolved.I think that a lot was left out, and I am looking forward to reading the book to get some more of the background about why things happened they way they did, and what the history of the two couples are.I'd recommend watching this movie, but keep an open mind, and imagine how you would react, given the situations presented.