Michael Ledo In the year 1971 (not 2000) Marguerite Gautier (Danièle Gaubert) is a drug using party girl who lives in the manor of the Duke in Rome. Young rich son of a businessman Armand Duval (Nino Castelnuovo) becomes infatuated with her and is warned about her. His friend has other recommendations (I would have taken the young red-haired girl) but Armand is set on breaking his heart and his own destruction. The two indeed hook-up, but Marguerite (not named Camille) has other lovers.I liked the retro style. No cell phones, mini skirts, mirrors everywhere, and clear plastic air filled furniture being sheik, but not really practical with all those indoor smokers. Looks like lava lamps and black light posters were for us poor slobs and Peter Fonda films.As a drama/romance it was pretty much the pits. The acting wasn't there. The plot was not convincing and if the women didn't run around naked/half naked I would have never watched it. BTW more nudity in the outtakes. The restoration was a B+ to A-. There were a few scenes where you could see the age of the film. If you look at the bonus material and trailers, you get a good idea about the original condition.Guide: sex and nudity. Not much swearing. Inspired by Dumas' ""The Lady of the Camellias"

Dries Vermeulen In adapting Alexandre Dumas' timeless and oft-filmed tale of doomed courtesan Marguerite Gautier as an eye-popping vision of a decadent near future filtered through late '60s rose-tinted glasses, Radley Metzger created a full-fledged kitsch masterpiece that got him some of the best reviews of his entire career. Underneath its colorfully campy exterior however beats a warm heart, courtesy of its central romance treated with surprising delicacy, beautifully acted by both leads. Best known for his jeune premier turn in Jacques Demy's innovative French musical THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, handsome Nino Castelnuovo makes for a dashing yet vulnerable Armand. Gorgeous Danièle Gaubert - whose life would tragically parallel her character's, passing away at the age of 44 in 1987 - proves much more than an outrageously attired fashion plate, breathing life into the seemingly shallow party girl everyone covets but no one can truly possess. It was to be the undisputed highlight of a brief and disappointing career that ended with George Englund's ludicrous suspense on the slopes crime drama SNOW JOB in 1972, that lowly potboiler's sole merit being Gaubert's meeting with Olympic ski champ Jean-Claude Killy, her husband until her untimely death.The familiar story has been moved from Paris to Rome though original French character names have been somewhat illogically retained. Kept woman to an elderly Duke, flighty Marguerite's the toast of the jet set when she catches the eye of Armand Duval, in town to meet up with his absent industrialist father, played by the excellent Massimo Serato whose best work was still ahead of him, performing creepy character turns in underrated "gialli" like Armando Crispino's AUTOPSY and Antonio Bido's BLOODSTAINED SHADOW. Although his friend Gaston (Roberto Bisacco who had portrayed Paris in Franco Zeffirelli's ROMEO AND JULIET and would go on to star in Sergio Martino's terrific TORSO) tries to dissuade him, he's already smitten. Touched by his sincerity but harboring a deep dark secret, the professional mistress takes him under her wing while simultaneously attempting to avoid emotional involvement. Dazzling use of multiple mirrors during their extended lovemaking sequences has been met with both delight and derision, a bold mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous which effectively places the film almost beyond camp, still dating it as a product of its excessive decade.Naturally, things have to go wrong at some stage. Having fallen in love for the first time, Marguerite starts pawning off her expensive jewelry in order to keep her unwitting boyfriend in the manner he's accustomed to. Their romantic seaside holiday's rudely interrupted by Armand's dad who believes her to be a gold-digger until she defiantly confronts him with evidence to the contrary, surely Gaubert's finest acting moment in the entire film, albeit closely followed by the traditionally noble suffering once her health goes south. Convinced by his father that Armand would be better off without her, Marguerite pretends she no longer cares about him which only sends him scurrying towards her erstwhile rival Olympe, played by voluptuous Silvana Venturelli whose finest hour came in Metzger's LICKERISH QUARTET the following year. These shifting affections give way to one of the most amazing sequences in the director's entire body of work, a hedonistic S&M party thrown by Olympe with Armand taunting his former lover, shackled to the latest in a long line of aristocratic "sponsors" (Philippe Forquet's Comte De Varville), by disrobing and doing the hostess in plain view ! Dramatic lighting galvanizes Venturelli's sensational curves, cavorting amid certifiably crazy set design by Enrico Sabbatini whose operatic sense of grandeur would similarly illuminate Dario Argento's elusive FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET.Every aspect of CAMILLE 2000 breathes absolute opulence, from the eternal city's timeless locations given a velvet sheen by revered cinematographer who shot Vittorio De Sica's GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINI'S and Zeffirelli's BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON to the alternately groovy and lushly romantic score by Piero Piccioni of Lina Wertmüller's SWEPT AWAY fame. Though Metzger's movies played respectable first run venues, they're frequently lumped together in hindsight with the rest of the decade's "adults only" cinema, including the sort of sleazy no budget sexploitation that can't even begin to compare, not just where the budget's concerned but in terms of directorial talent or dedication. While a surfeit of surface gloss forces the film uncomfortably close to fashionista fascism at times, Metzger's mercurial meticulousness saves the day, his sensitivity as both filmmaker and story-teller extending to the inclusion of an openly gay character portrayed in a for the time uncommonly sympathetic light, dress designer Gody (one shot Zachary Adams), one of Marguerite's few friends to show genuine concern as her health deteriorates.

herolder While there are quite a few nude scenes, I'd rather think of Camille 2000 as a Drama than an Eroticfilm. The sex scenes a pretty tame compared with modern films, but much more elegant. The whole film is made in a beautiful style. The settings and costumes have this wonderful 60ies look. And not only the women are attractive, also the men are goodlooking. The story about a naive young man coming to the jet set of Rome and falling in love with the wrong girl may be not exactly new but hardly I have seen it better and more gripping. The actors are not that charismatic, but fitted almost perfectly in their roles. Highly recommended. Rating: 9/10.

Pink Frankenstein Metzger was a master at stretching a budget and providing nudie, erotic fair with dazzling production values. Remember that naked bodies were a pretty new commodity back in 1969 America and the eroticism that sizzles from the screen in this and other Metzger films comes from simply the idea that we are going to see people naked! And that usually means attractive females!! It is great to see something with such an innocent approach to titilation. Unlike many films and music videos today, where you just don't get to see much of anything, it delivers. In addition, Metzger always toyed with kinky subject matter (check out "Lickerish Quartet") and that gave his films the edge over other American competitors. One of my favorite film-makers and very under rated. People who can't enjoy a Metzger film are generally too conservative in their tastes, ie "Titanic" = Best Picture.