La Femme Libido

LA FEMME LIBIDO wastes a good title on an utterly routine early porn film (heroine writes "Freedom" on her 1971 calendar, indicating the correct vintage of the film, not 1973 as listed in IMDb's title). It has been preserved on Vol. 131 of Something Weird's Dragon Art Theatre series.

Casey Larrain stars as Tish (misindentified as "Trish" by the brain-dead back of the video box scribe), a buxom but not very attractive woman seen window shopping in the opening scene. Staring at her reflection in shop windows, she has an epiphany, tosses her bra & panties to the winds (while keeping her outer clothing on, pre-Jennifer Beals in FLASHDANCE), and embarks on an hour of XXX sex.

Gimmick is that she visits neighbors in her apartment building, introduces herself, and gets it on. Three lengthy segments ensue, first humping Dick, then a femme neighbor for lesbian action, and finally an absurd orgy encounter with a quartet of nude folk who chant mantras until they faint (but revive in order to have sex). Patti Lee enlivens this final segment.

Theme of communication and finding oneself is pure '60s, but poorly developed here. Picture ends arbitrarily with Tish picking up a paperback stroke book titled "The Sex Barbarians" to read.

Soundtrack consists of Les McCann, Ramsey Lewis or more likely an adherent to their piano stylings playing funky versions of "Uptight", "Wade in the Water", "Day Tripper", "Hurts So Bad" and "My Cherie Amour".