A famous writer returns from war. Embittered over his wounds and tormented by visions of his former lover, thoughts of suicide seem to be, for him, the only solution. And then...she happens....Katya, a young innocent gir... more »l on the brink of exploring her o« less
"Made in 1978, this Italian-made "art" movie has elements of "Pretty Baby" and "Lolita". Basically, a troubled, wounded WWI vet befriends and becomes infatuated with a young girl. The American version has chopped out 9 minutes of (I can only imagine) scenes of child nudity/sexuality, but includes some adult nudity and sex scenes.Although the extensive missing scenes (15% of movie) probably would make it a much better movie, the real bad part is...the packaging is false - it most certainly IS NOT digitally remastered. It has many artifacts, glitches, waves and scratches, and is as grainy as the VHS I was trying to replace. It's full-screen, but even so, the edges are cut off during the opening credits. Also the "enhanced audio" must mean it was so bad to start with that they had to pump it up or something. It sounds like a circus calliope in parts.Oh, yeah, it's stiffly acted and poorly dubbed, and has a really bad score, too.No extras. No trailer. No booklet. Nada. Should be in the bargain bin with a bargain bin price."
David Hamilton style erotica only better!
10/05/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A famous writer returns home from war. Embittered over his wounds and tormented by visions of his former lover, thoughts of suicide seem to be the only solution.....but then she happens, Katya, a young innocent girl on the brink of exploring her own sexuality. His love for her grows into an obsession. that, at first, renews his life! Heavily influenced by David Hamilton's style of filmmaking"
Old dude digs preteen
02/15/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"WWI vet returned home with deep scars and considered ending his life. Then he met his housekeepers' 12-year-old niece and, struck by her beauty and innocence, found a new reason to live. Her very presence is his salvation. They became friends, but she begins to notice boys and her own new-found sexuality. This is less a story driven film than a study in our human need for love and purpose.A possible eyeraiser is casting an actual 12-yr-old (stunning Katya Berger) as the child. Dispite the subject matter, this film is not lewd. There is one brief scene with Ms. Berger topless. Unfortunately, the 77 minutes of running time goes by too fast and we want to see more of her."
Cut Verison!
ASL Lexicon | New Jersey | 10/30/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Don't even bother buying the cut verison of this movie. Do some internet searching and you can find the full-length one for sale (legally -grin)."
An Erotic Yet Heartbreaking Movie
carl womack | north carolina | 09/09/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The movie was originally released in 1978 and contained much more footage than the one currently featured here, and the reason for that is simple, before it could be shown in the usa, it had to be dramatically cut. Yet even with its butchering by American editors, this movie is at the very least, provocative. The story revolves around a writer who has returned from World War I and is injured. For one thing, he has sustained and injury that has made him walk with a limp, and the other problem he has is that he has been made impotent. Now he is tormented graphic memories of his former lover, memories that often drive him to the brink of suicide.
But then he meets one of his worker's nieces and everything changes. She is radiant, a vision of beauty, and she's 12.
And no, she is not a 900 year old woman playing a 12 year old girl, she really is a 12 year old girl playing a 12 year old girl. At first she is afraid of him, but after time the two become inseparable. They dine together, hold each other, spend just about every waking minute in each others arms. He is deeply in love with her. But she soon becomes attracted to a young boy in the village, and everything changes. What will happen? Of course I'm not going to say, you have to see the movie yourself.
And let me say ahead of time that even though this movie was heavily censored, you're still going to see SEVERAL provocative scenes. From his happening upon her taking a bath in a local brook, to their "roll in the grass" in a beautiful meadow, to her sexual encounter with the young boy, you are going to get a very erotic movie. It does have a good plot to it, so I have to give it 4 stars.
Oh and by the way, one reason why you'll want to own a copy is due to the fact that it is a highly sought after collectible even in vhs format.