Educating Julie

An interesting quasi documentary / feature film. Julie goes around studying nudism in Europe and then later in Florida. I just liked this film because it was quite unconventional and took a relatively objective look into social nudism.

Not much of a plot, and tends to meander a bit, but since its a pretty rare and authentic addressing of the subject matter I can't help but to forgive its few deficiencies and look at the interesting boldness of it all.

The copy I watched of this was rather oldish VHS style. I wish they would maybe do a remake or a sequel to further explore this interesting facet of society.

"Educating Julie" is part documentary, part romantic comedy, and mostly fun.

It should be noted up front that this is a picture about nudism and nudists, and lots of people of all ages and both sexes are seen naked. That includes Gail Ward, the fetching blond who plays the title role.

Julie is a British college girl who researches nudism for a sociology class project. That gives her the opportunity to visit several nudist resorts and interview some of the members. That's the documentary part.

The romance-comedy part centers around Julie and her boyfriend, and how they cope with their different attitudes toward nudism.

Stay clear of this movie.

They couldn't produce this movie today the same way it was done when they originally made it. For one, the laws are different, much different and much more strict today than they were at the time this movie was made, that should explain the producers' lack of responsibility for the content of this film- actually since it was initially shot on video it can't even be called a film, so- lack of responsibility for the contents of this sore excuse for a movie that is actually more of a shameless plug for naturist resorts and vacation spots.

In addition to that I would even venture to say that anyone following naked children around with a camera should be considered a pervert and a rather dangerous person for the reasons he chooses to follow little children around and want to photograph them for the world to see, inviting an endless lifetime of embarrassment for the unfortunate children who get exploited in that manner. Show a sense of responsibility and keep the cameras away from children during the making of naturist films, that's why there are laws that prohibit such things these days.

Aside of that the acting was fairly dry and the storyline was predictable, something of which I can get around in most movies that have any artistic value but I'm afraid this movie, if you want to call it that, has none, so only one out of five stars.

How I wish for a film whose storyline and plot based on naturism doesn't turn into shameless exploitation and arrogant commercialism.

This film isn't bad for what it tries to do. Educating Julie presents an overview and history of social nudity within a story about a timid student who has been assigned to write a research paper on "Nudity in the 1980s" In the course of her research she, and her boyfriend visit nudist camps in England, the south of France and Florida. More travel log / advert than movie, but fun and informative. This was the first "major motion picture" endorsed by the British Naturalist Societies.

There are not too many feature films made about nudism and naturism these days, but in its day this was hailed as one of the best. Looking at it today it does look rather dated with the hairstyles and the devices that they used (e.g. dial phones and typewriters). It's a very straightforward story: young sociology student Julie Potter is set a thesis to write for her masters, and she is tricked into doing it about 'Nudity in the 80's' to the scorn of her classmates. After her boyfriend offers to help her out with it, they both explore the world of nudism and how it works. The acting is good, but hardly that of an Academy Award standard. Julie is an initially shy and mousy person prior to doing the thesis and becoming a nudist changes her personality and outlook radically. For people who often criticise and stereotype nudists as being a bunch of cranky old pagan hippie swingers, this film does a lot to dispel those stereotypes as they are shown to be your everyday people who just like to bare it all in the sun on the weekends with no other motives. Unpretentious and unsensational in the main, it's one that naturist movie buffs rather than the general public will enjoy for the most part if only for the nostalgia value.