The Lickerish Quartet

source: The Lickerish Quartet

It's a pretty adventurous movie, poised rather uneasily between constant arty inventiveness and a distinctly stilted coating of baroque overemphasis that, of course, makes due space for the porno calculations. From the very first scene of the family watching the dirty movies, heard initially as disembodied heads in darkness, there's an obvious hankering after seriousness, and the astonishment is that this ambition never becomes utterly foolish. It's quite a provocative film, and would likely not seem so dated with warmer, more nuanced actors, a less obviously titillating style, and without the unfortunate montages of running through the fields and suchlike to the accompaniment of gooey sixties music. There's ultimately no real revelation though, despite the constant return to doubling and echoing and evocation of the odd relationship between art and life, but it gives the feeling of having been intuitively (more than intellectually) shaped and prodded into something quite coherent. The highly designed library sex scene hardly fits but is memorable in its own right.

Opening with a quote by Luigi Pirandello regarding the elusive and illusory nature of reality, Radley Metzger's 1970 soft-core, art-house offering, "The Lickerish Quartet," is indeed one mind-twisting film. In it, a stepfather, wife and son watch a stag film one night in their sumptuous castle, and later go to a carnival and see a motorcycle stunt performance. They bring home the beautiful blond cycler, who bears an uncanny resemblance to one of the hotties in that stag film, and she proceeds to seduce all three in turn. The end. But wait a minute...why is that stag film subtly altered now, and why do the family and the hotty start emulating the action IN that film? Apparently, Metzger & Co. have some comments they'd like to make regarding art imitating life, or life imitating art, or the mutability of reality, or how film alters our perception of truth, or how time plays tricks on memory. After two viewings, I'm still trying to figure the darn thing out. But the picture does provide other pleasures, besides its baffling themes. The four principals are all quite good, especially the gorgeous Silvana Venturelli as the blond (or is it brunette?) temptress. The location of the film, the Piccolomini Castle in Balsorano, Italy (also the location, BTW, of the 1965 Italian horror film "The Bloody Pit of Horror"), is equally gorgeous, and Enrico Sabbatini's set decor of the castle's chambers (especially that library!) is also a feast for the eyes. Perhaps best of all, Stephen Cipriani has provided a Morricone-like score for the film that is exceptionally beautiful, and certainly deserving of a soundtrack CD. This score is especially lovely when used as a backdrop for Silvana's prancing through a sunlit field. Still, "The Lickerish Quartet" remains a trippy head-scratcher, at best. Lines such as "Isn't everyone in movies?" and "Reality's hard" might clue in potential viewers to prepare themselves for one brow-furrowing evening....

With the sexual revolution of the 1960's in full swing, along came Euro Erotica master, director Radley Metzger. With films like Therese and Isabelle (1968) and Camille (1969) and his next project The Lickerish Quartet (1970) he's left his directional style of sensuality and erotica, a lavishness imagery with a brilliance for framing the exquisite beauty not just of the actors but as in The Lickerish Quartet especially, the beauty of the location. The sexual power that flows from the gorgeous Silvana Venturelli, not only ignites the screen but burns the very celluloid of the print. This film oozes provocatively forward all the while presenting a playfulness, and free exhibit of the time of the sexual revolution. I have only just discovered this director and have so far seen only four of his movies (this one, Camille 2000, The Private Afternoons of Pamala Man 1975 and The Opening of Misty Beethoven, 1976) The last two movies in this list were the ones Radley Metzger made in the US under the name Henry Paris and where I believe to be his most successful (at the box office) Both were hard versions and the later Misty Beethoven is heavily regarded by filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson the director of Boogie Nights as his favourite Adult movie of all time, I can see many of the same characteristics of this film in The Lickerish Quartet. I myself am doing my final year dissertation on the rise of European Erotica from the late 60's to the late 70's, and the decline of these films after the 80's. With directors such as Radley Metzger and another favourite of mine, José Ramón Larraz (Vampyres, The Coming of Sin) I truly know that I am witnessing the very best that this genre has too offer. My only wish is for these movies and others like them should all receive a screening again today in as many cinemas around the world as possible to reawaken a sensuality that is long dead and dormant in most movies today. This movie captures the time, the feeling, and the energy of this genre and most of all it captured me. Thank you

Some rich early '70s sophistos inexplicably stand around an opulent room watching a crappy stag film. The people in the film look attractive enough - too bad it's run through a projector that would have seemed ancient in 1969. They then go to the circus and watch some motorbike devils ride around. One of the daredevils takes her helmet off and they recognize her from the movie they just watched. She goes back to their castle, if that's what it is, and they watch more of this crappy stag movie, which is silent, black and white, and has lines through the footage. The director also keeps cutting away to the reaction shots of the bloodless rich people watching it. It's hard to see rich people in '70s fashions standing around luxurious rooms and not expect a black gloved killer to show up. These were giallo's stock in trade. Ironic that a famous pornographer like Radley Metzger would bore us with this sub-par footage. Half way into the movie, the only sex and nudity in it has been grainy black and white garbage. The movie finally coughs up some actual nudity at a bit past the halfway point. When I say actual nudity, I mean nudity which isn't in black and white and with distracting lines through it, and with Metzger cutting away all the time to something else. The movie's middle aged patriarch takes the daredevil into a room in which the floor looks like giant dictionary pages and the room is filled with books. The patriarch says they are all rarities in obscure languages, but they look like obvious props. We then get the two rolling around naked on the floor. The naked girl's body is mostly obscured by the naked middle aged man's. Funny how a noted pornographer finds so many ways to hide his product. Predictably, the daredevil then hooks up with the family's son, who also shows full frontal nudity. This left me wondering why they showed the ugly middle aged patriarch * at all. Who the hell wants to see that? There's also a dalliance with the wife. This movie did absolutely nothing for me. It wasn't erotic in the least, and nor was it interesting. It seemed to be going for a kind of dreamlike atmosphere with footage of the stag film intercut over footage of these rich types and their daredevil, but I just didn't care about it at all. The only thing I liked about this movie was the locations, which did look impressive.

The premise for the film: A decadent couple invite an adult film actress up for a party, but instead of letting them debauching her, she turns the tables and challenges their own mores and hypocrisy. Rather ambitious for a sex film, and with some potential verbal fireworks when put that way, hmm? Unfortunately, the movie falls far short in the execution. The script of The Lickerish Quartet tries hard to shock with its bi-curious sensibilities and was no doubt more able to do so pre-Gay Lib, but now it seems rather naive, confused and inarticulate on the subjects of swinging, swapping and coming out of the the closet. The cast attempts to appear as jaded sophisticates, but just come off as stiff and inexperienced. The European setting is prettily photographed, but beyond that there is not much of interest on screen.

A jaded rich couple and their bored son (a solid performance by Paolo Turco) watch a stag film in the screening room of their castle abode. The son becomes smitten with a carnival daredevil (a supremely seductive and mysterious portrayal by beautiful blonde Silvana Venturelli) who looks just like the star of the stag film. Director Radley Metzger not only does his customary ace job of crafting an intoxicating dreamy, playful, and erotic atmosphere, but also handles the enjoyable premise with his trademark enchanting sophistication and makes fine use of the opulent castle main location. Michael DeForrest's crafty script cleverly explores the provocative themes of false identities, lies people tell each other in order to keep a relationship working throughout the years, and, most of all, the way the slight subtle line separating illusion and reality can be easily blurred. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast, with Frank Wolff a particular stand-out with his deliciously obnoxious turn as the smarmy father. The gorgeous vibrant color cinematography by Hans Jura provides a wealth of stunning visuals. Stelvio Cipriani's right-on groovy score hits the harmonic spot. Sly stuff.

The plot is kind of silly, and the flashbacks to WWII make no real sense. But Silvana Venturelli is lovely, stunning, coy, flirtatious, and relentlessly hot. She is the only real reason to watch this movie, so, enjoy. The so-called plot involves a husband, wife and adult son watching a cheap porno at home one night and all becoming fascinated with the hot female star (Venturelli.) The next night (apparently) they go to a local circus and see a girl who looks just like the star riding a motorcycle around the wall of death. Except that she is brunette while the star of the film is blonde. They invite her back to their mansion where she pulls off her dark wig and all sorts of fun ensues. The acting, writing, and plot are lame, but it's all worth the trouble for the scene in the library. Enjoy.

A couple who live in a castle watch a grainy black and white stag film with their son. They go to a carnival where the see the woman in the film wide a motorcycle inside a barrel. They invite her back to the castle, but when they show her film, there is a different person in it. She spends the night and the next day satisfies each on them individually and then we have a great Twilight Zone ending. Yes I liked the ending. I didn't mind all the nudity it took to get there, it was just that it was repetitious and grew boring.

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I did a few years back and this may be because I found the pacing a little difficult this time. Nevertheless it is still a fabulous looking, brave, intriguing and beguiling movie. I don't know where the title comes from and I don't know why the daredevil motorcycle sequence, early on, was so long but the central idea with the supposed projection of an old stag movie that is not all it seems is a great notion. The castle setting (Balsorano, Italy) is amazing and the Stelvio Cipriani score one of his very best, so lush and stirring, particularly effective in the 'very sixties' running jumping and having sex outdoors sequence and the superb pop art library sex sequence. I must mention the solid Frank Wolff, who would drown himself in a Hilton bath tub shortly after this film and the amazing, Silvana Venturelli, who would do little else after this than some playboy layouts. Not for everyone but if the names Vadim, Robbe- Grillet and Warhol don't scare you off, you'll probably get something out of this unique film.