The Hidden Cinema of Jean Rollin: Jeunes Filles Impudiques (1973)

A typical Jean Rollin filmography will list only twenty or so films but, in actuality, this is not really the case. Starting in 1973 Rollin began shooting certain films under the pseudonyms of Michel Gentil and later as Robert Xavier. These films, numbering in the dozens, are cheap mostly adult fair that Rollin himself admits were made strictly for money. While none of them are up to par with Rollin's 'official' work, I want Fascination to be as comprehensive as possible so I will be including posts on these films, at least the few that I have in my collection so far. I can't imagine a Jean Rollin page that doesn't mention a striking and incredibly Rollinesque work like 1975's Phantasmes or, the film that this post will cover, 1973's Jeunes Filles Impudiques.

The first 'Michel Gentil' production, Jeunes Filles Impudiques (sometimes known as High School or Schoolgirl Hitchhikers), began to take shape while Rollin was shooting Requiem for a Vampire. Rollin recalled to Peter Blumenstock in Virgins and Vampires and Video Watchdog that producer, "Lionel (Wallmann) obliged me to put some sex scenes in Requiem-during the dungeon sequence. I told him that I wasn't too fond of that kind of thing, and he answered, "But you do that kind of thing very well. If we made an entire film like that, I bet it would be successful. You may not like it, but you know how to do it." Rollin continued with, 'Okay, I'll do it, but I won't invest any of my own money into it.' Well he raised the money, we made the film and he was right." Hence, the first Michel Gentil film was born and shooting commenced right after Requiem wrapped.

Outside of its obvious importance in Jean Rollin's canon as the first 'Gentil' film, Jeunes Filles Impudiques's also marks the first time Rollin worked with the stunning French actress Joelle Coeur, a talented and extremely charismatic figure who would prove to be one of Rollin's most memorable performers in 1974's Demoniacs. There will be much more to come on Coeur here in the near future.

Jeunes Filles Impudiques is an admittedly slight film. It looks to only really operate as a soft core sex film and it does so quite well. Seasoned Rollin fans though will notice that this is very much a 'Jean Rollin picture'. The opening images of our two lead female characters walking alone and stumbling on a seemingly abandoned mansion will immediately remind fans of some of Rollin's most iconic work (including the masterful film he had just completed) as will the camera's obsession with the antiquities of the house. Jeunes Filles Impudiques might just be a shot on the cheap quickie sex film, but there is a lot more to it than that. From the unmistakable photography and lighting of Jean Jacques Renon (working here as Oscar Lapin) to the playful score by Pierre Raph, Jeunes Filles Impudiques is a fascinating little entry in Rollin's filmography and its a shame that a decent uncut print is so hard to come by.

The incredibly slight plot, which feels like it might have been sketched out in one long alcohol fueled evening, concerns two hikers who get caught up with a band of jewel thieves who have taken over a villa in the French countryside. Filled with Rollin's trademark unexpected camera angles (one particular shot through a mirror early on is a model of how to shoot a low budget film quickly without sacrificing any style), infectiously goofy gunfights and a fun nonsensical ending that feels like everyone just shrugging any semblance of story off, Jeunes Filles Impudiques is one of the most purely entertaining films Rollin shot in this period.

Working with the haunting Coeur (who is just so endlessly delightful here) is Gilda Arancio (who would later work on Rollin's unfortunate Zombie Lake in 1981), Francoise Brincourt, Pierre Julien, fetching Marie Helene Regne and Rollin regular Willy Braque (whom, like Coeur is making his first appearance for his most famous director here). Most surprising and pleasing is the fact that Rollin himself pops up towards the end in an unbilled cameo sharing some screen time with Coeur.

Jeunes Filles Impudiques isn't any sort of grand masterpiece but it never aims for any such lofty goal. It would be an easy film to pick apart, but why bother? It's an entertaining little offering from a period in film history that was able to produce a cheap picture like this, in an incredibly short time, that is still filled with a certain amount of style and personal vision. Simply put, it's just not the kind of film being made anymore.

Rollin's first Michel Gentil film is easiest to find in America on the 20 film collection The Grindhouse Experience. Unfortunately this full frame English dubbed version is cut and missing just under ten minutes (this is also the only version I have ever seen so I can't comment on what's missing).

The Grindhouse print is filled with splices, scracthes and imperfections...in other words it looks exactly like what you would think a low budget sex film from this period would look like. Quality issues aside, it is still easy to admire Rollin's shooting style and Renon's sometimes trippy photography with this version, and fans shouldn't hesitate to put down the money for this (iffy) public domain set.


I'm quite fond of Jeunes Filles Impudiques. Refreshingly engaging in its silliness it must have provided Rollin a little relief in the short period he had before he shot what would prove to be one of his heaviest and haunting films, The Iron Rose. Hopefully an uncut pristine print of Jeunes Filles Impudiques will appear one day, until then track it down where you can.

The Hidden Cinema of Jean Rollin: Tout le monde il en a deux (1974)

The most widely seen of the Michel Gentil signed films, 1974’s Tout le monde il en a deux (also known as Bacchanales Sexuelles and Fly me the French Way) is an overlong, sluggish, sometime visually striking production that is more of a curiosity in Jean Rollin’s filmography rather than a successful film.






Shot fairly cheaply for producer Lionel Wallman in early 1974 between The Demoniacs and Lips of Blood, Tout le monde il en a deux would mark the final time Rollin would work with the delightful Joelle Coeur and the first time he would work with the iconic Annie Belle, who makes her big screen debut here under the name Annie Brilland. The film also features The Castel Twins in small roles (tragic that they were able to appear in this film and not The Demoniacs) as well as the ever-present Willy Braque.








The plot of Tout le monde il en a deux concerning a self proclaimed sorceresses named Madame Malvena, who is kidnapping young girls for use in her club of the ‘Admirers of Pure Flesh’ might have been interesting had it not been basically put in place to service a seemingly never ending series of over-long and poorly edited soft-core sexual encounters. For every visually enticing and interesting shot Rollin manages here (and there are some beautiful moments in the film) there a dozens of flat and unappealing moments that show a filmmaker who is clearly bored and, I would suspect, more than a little disappointed.









Outside of the films cast, who deserve better material, the main interest for Rollin’s fans will be the opportunity to get a great look at his own apartment where much of film was shot. Decorated with posters from his films and even some older props, these scenes will prove delightful to Rollin devotees, even though finally they serve as a reminder to how inferior this film is to Rollin’s previous work.







A couple of different versions of the film have been released. I have only seen the long version Wallman prepared under the title Bacchanales Sexuelles from Synapse Films, and have wondered if I would like the film more in its shorter version that Rollin had more of a hand in editing. That said, Synapse's DVD is fine and contains a fairly nice looking widescreen print of the film with optional English subtitles.












Jean Rollin recalled to Peter Blumenstock in Video Watchdog 31 that financially the film was “very successful”, but it is clear that it is not a film that he has a lot of fond feelings for. All but ignored in Virgins and Vampires and the one film in VSOM’s VHS series in the mid nineties Rollin declined to do an introduction for, Tout le monde il en a deux is more than anything else a reminder of a time Rollin had to sacrifice his personal visions for financial reasons. A better than average sox-core sexploitation film perhaps, but a disappointing work nonetheless.

The Hidden Cinema of Jean Rollin: Phantasmes (1975)

Between the years 1975 and 1979, Jean Rollin shot around ten adult films for mostly financial reasons. The commercial failure of both The Iron Rose and Lips of Blood had left Rollin with little choice in the matter, and he has all but dismissed these films that were shot under the pseudonyms of Michel Gentil and Robert Xavier. However, for completeness sake I will be dedicating posts to the few that I have acquired for my collection. For these films, Rollin only signed his name to one and it remains one of the most interesting 'lost' films in his canon.





Rollin recalled to Peter Blumenstock in the pages of European Trash Cinema that he chose to sign his name to 1975's Phantasmes (The Seduction of Amy) for the simple reason that "what (he) did in the film (he) really liked." The film, while never really coming together as a successful work, is an interesting picture that is clearly the work of Jean Rollin. Everything from the abandoned castle to the lighting scheme will alert viewers that this is indeed a Rollin film, something that his other adult features for the most part cannot claim.



The plot of Phantasmes concerns a seemingly innocent widower who it turns out is related to the Marquis De Sade (and possibly the devil himself) and is collecting young female prisoners in search of a one true eternal love. Rollin admitted in Virgins and Vampires that, "the story of a cursed Satan forced to kill the women he loves should have deserved a better fate", than Phantasmes and he's correct as the film is more frustrating than anything else. Still, there are moments in its slim running time that are really striking with a special note going to the final sequence on a sand covered hill that recalls Antonioni's masterful Zabriskie Point from just a few years earlier.




Rollin has said of Phantasmes that it was his, "first and final attempt at a serious", adult film but that viewers finally just, "walked out." Despite its limitations as a successful film, there is something quite admirable about what Rollin is trying to achieve with Phantasmes. Not content with just delivering a purely profit motivated production, Rollin creates a film that is for very brief stretches quite riveting and distinctive.





Wanting to create an adult work that didn't just, "poke fun at sex" Rollin did the best he could with Phantasmes before it was taken away from him by producers just looking to make a profit. Rollin told Blumenstock that for the most part the film was, "not really my work" and that he could only take credit for, "30 minutes or so." The scenes in the film that are clearly Rollin's are unmistakable, and a decent copy of the film would be a most welcome event for fans of the great director's iconic filmography.





The cast includes the legendary Castel Twins, with their entrance in the second half providing an instant clue that this is a Jean Rollin film. Jess Franco star Monica Swinn is also featured and Rollin himself makes a cameo at the beginning of the picture. The rest of the cast is mostly made up of actors from various French adult films of the seventies, although the film's star Mylène d'Antes (whose quite good here) can be seen in both Grapes of Death and Fascination.





The score, credited to Lips of Blood composer Didier William Lepauw is actually fairly exciting and is one of the films best attributes. Parts of the film's score were apparently later changed for the American version, which is also missing around ten minutes of footage. The film's very Rollinesque cinematography is credited to an 'Allinh', who is in reality French photographer Charlet Recors.




Phantasmes is far from being an essential Jean Rollin film, but it is far and away the most interesting 'hard' work that he had to make in this period. A good quality copy would be most welcome.

The Hidden Cinema of Jean Rollin: Vibrations Sexuelles (1977)

One of the most resonate moments in Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece Boogie Nights occurs towards the end when disillusioned Jack Horner asks his editor what his newest, made strictly for cash project, is like, with the reply being, “It is what it is.” That’s a bit how I feel about the couple of adult features I have in my collection that Rollin shot for purely financial reasons between 1976 and 1979. They are what they are, cheap if nice looking productions with little plot and little style. Rollin has himself called them awful and there is very little to distinguish them from any other like minded films from the period. Rollin was at his creative peak in the seventies and it’s a real crime that he he had to sacrifice his artistic vision because audiences and critics of the day didn’t see his value. The mighty Rollin did what he had to do though, but thankfully by 1978 he began to get financing again for his regular films.






Vibrations Sexuelles is arguably the most important film Rollin shot under the Michel Gentil name in this period for one reason alone, namely that it marked the first time he worked with the remarkable Brigitte Lahaie. Seen here in one of her earliest film roles, the brunette Lahaie is stunningly beautiful and is already projecting a quality that would mark her as one of the most memorable French film figures to come out of the seventies. It’s easy to see what Rollin saw in her, and it’s to his credit that he kept the promise that he made to her during the shooting of Vibrations Sexuelles that he would soon give her a part in a mainstream production. Lahaie, more than anyone else, is the ultimate Rollin heroine and their historic collaboration begin here.







There isn’t much to say about this film. My copy doesn’t have English subtitles and is, I believe, heavily cut. Lahaie is breathtaking though and Cathy Castel pops up in a scene. There are some beautiful images of Paris throughout the film and Rollin manages some nice shots, although clearly his heart isn’t in this. It’s finally not a particularly interesting production and outside of some familiar faces, there is nothing that announces it as a Jean Rollin film.









The film can be ordered through Xploited for those interested. I don't have any information on the quality of this version, or whether it is uncut.