Justine och Juliette

Now here's something you don't see very often--a hardcore Swedish adaptation of the Marquis de Sade directed by a man who later became a highly respected Hollywood cinematographer lensing productions like TV's "The Wonder Years". Unfortunately, it's not very good (although, god knows, it's better than "The Wonder Years"). It takes the Marquis DeSade's story of two sisters, a virtuous one who suffers and a sinful one who prospers in world that above all things is cruel, and turns it into a stupid modern (as of 1975 anyway)sex comedy.

The two leads, Joe Sarno-regular Maria Forse who plays Justine and the unknown who plays Juliette get naked a lot, but don't really participate in the hardcore sex scenes. That is left to the anonymous extras and American porn star Harry Reems (hilariously dubbed into Swedish) who once again shows off his monstrous manhood and even more monstrous moustache as he plays an American millionaire (even though as I said he is dubbed into Swedish)who has promised his fortune to whatever woman can give him a heart attack during sex.

Like the vast majority of Eurotica that crosses into hardcore this film has WAY too many long sex scenes and will bore the holy hell out of anyone NOT watching it for ceiling-painting purposes. Maria Forse is very cute, but not a particularly talented actress and the other performer's talents descend precipitously from there. Worst of all, it is very obviously NOT in the spirit of the Marquis de Sade (torturing only the viewers). I'd recommend instead other flawed adaptations of the same tale like Jess Franco's "Marquis de Sade's Justine" or "Cruel Passions" with the ever delectable Koo Stark. This is one to avoid

With the budget this had, and the star power involved, this could have been a worthwhile adaptation of one of the Marquis de Sade's most well known tales. Unfortunately the creators of "Justine & Juliette" go for comedy that is dumb and unfunny. Nothing against the comic approach in adult film, when it is done right, such as in "Every Inch A Lady," which is a masterpiece of adult film. Also the hardcore sequences rarely involve the primary cast, and those scenes are poorly filmed. The worst choice of all was to give Harry Reems so little screen time, because the only time this dud comes alive is when Reems is on screen. His screentime clocks in at around 15 minutes in total. One interesting piece of trivia about this production is that it was filmed in the same beautiful apartment as Joe Sarno"s vastly superior "Butterflies," also with Reems and Marie Forsa. My advice is to skip this tired movie and seek out "Butterflies," as you won't be disappointed.