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.

Jean Rollin: The Collaborators (Joëlle Coeur)

With the exceptions of Brigitte Lahaie and Marie-Pierre Castel, no actress was ever as suited to Jean Rollin’s particular cinematic landscape than the unforgettable Joëlle Coeur. Unlike Lahaie and Castel, who both appeared in multiple Jean Rollin features, Coeur only worked with the legendary director three times and only once on a film in which the director signed his own name.



Information on the delectable Coeur is extremely hard to come by. The IMDB doesn’t list a date or place of birth and has no other information listed besides her filmography, which spans a relatively short eight year period from the early to late seventies. A glance over her film credits shows her as an actress who almost exclusively appeared in the French sexploitation films that populated cinemas before hardcore all but buried the genre in the late seventies. Rollin himself would mention that it was the legalization of hardcore that would cause Joëlle Coeur to retire from the screen as the new permissiveness held no interest for her and, as Rollin recalled in Encores The Demoniacs booklet, “She did right to have never taken the plunge.”



So what is that that makes Joëlle Coeur, an actress with less than twenty mostly forgotten films to her credit, so special and memorable? Simply put, there is something delightfully tongue in cheek and playful in the sexuality Coeur presented on the screen and I suspect that had she been around in the silent period she could have been one of the screen’s greatest physical comedians. Rollin would refer to her as, “a superb creature” in Encore’s booklet and that he never knew of another actress who knew, “how to make better use of her body”, and it is that remarkable physicality that comes out in her performances, especially with her remarkable turn as the ferocious ‘Tina the Wrecker’ in The Demoniacs.



Coeur all but demolishes the screen in The Demoniacs, delivering an performance overflowing with humor, charisma and sexuality. Fearless and with a wonderful go for broke attitude so often missing from the screen, Coeur makes it impossible for anyone watching to take their eyes off of her in The Demoniacs. The fact that she would only work in film for a few years after is regrettable, and still feels like a major loss for French cinema.



The actress whom, as Rollin recalled in his commentary, had a perfect and “great image” for the screen first appeared on the screen as Joelle Faguet in a small role in Jean Desville’s Jeux Pour Couples Infideles (also known as Hot and Blue). Just a year later she would make her debut in a Rollin film with a large role in his delightful Michel Gentil signed Jeunes Filles Impudiques. Later that year she would also appear in what would become one of her most popular and memorable films, Max Pecas I Am Frigid…Why? (don’t you miss the seventies?), a film that featured another one of Rollin’s most memorable heroines, Sandra Julien.
Coeur would continue working steadily throughout the mid seventies, including a couple of times for important French auteur Jose Benazeraf, before hooking up with Rollin again on The Demoniacs and Tout le Monde il en a Deux (Fly me the French Way, Bacchanales Sexuelles).



Describing her memorably in Virgins and Vampires as a “Lust provoking animal woman” Rollin clearly has fond memories of Coeur and marveled at the way in The Demoniacs commentary how she allowed him to use “her body like it was a statue.” The director would also compare her to legendary Brigitte Lahaie on the commentary track and pointed out that he even went so far as to frame Lahaie the same way he had Couer in The Grapes of Death a few years down the road.
Joëlle Coeur's final film credit according to the IMDB occurred in 1978 with Michel Lemoine’s Jeunes filles en Extase, a film sadly all but lost in time alongside most of her other work from the seventies. While never a major star, Joëlle Coeur is a legend to fans of Jean Rollin’s unique brand of fantastic cinema. Perhaps my favorite thing ever written about her was Tim Lucas’ point in his review of Bacchanales Sexuelles for Video Watchdog 31 that the delightful actress, “probably could have carried the film without a plot” a terrifically dead-on and resonate statement on a film figure who was deserving of more of a career than she got.

Jeunes Filles Impudiques Is Coming

Redemption's Jezebel label is going to be releasing a remastered version of Rollin's 1973 film Jeunes Filles Impudiques under the title of Schoolgirl Hitchhikers. Here is the link for more information, and the cover art is above. Thanks to the folks over at Redemption/Salvation for continuing to release such rare Rollin titles.

***I have been told by Redemption that the above artwork will probably change and the final box will have a still from the newly remastered film. I have also seen where the disc will also include an exclusive new interview with Rollin on the film!
Also, here is the cover art for the upcoming re-release of The Sidewalks of Bangkok, also from Redemption.***

Jean Rollin Home Video Designs (Various High Resolution)

A very kind reader from France recently alerted me to this wonderful database he is involved with dedicated to preserving rare VHS box art from around the world. They have a huge Jean Rollin selection here and this reader has offered to supply me with some large scans to share with fellow Rollin fans. Here is the next batch featuring some various scans. Thanks so much to this very kind fan who, like me, is really wanting to preserve Rollin's legacy and I hope this and the upcoming posts of these prove pleasing!

Finders Keepers Records 1st Rollin Release Now Available: Jeunes filles impudiques (Limited Edition EP)

The first release in what promises to be an absolutely amazing soundtrack series dedicated to Jean Rollin is now available from Finders Keepers records. Here is the link to a five track EP containing music from Jeunes filles impudiques (Schoolgirl Hitchhikers). There are only 500 of these beauties being printed so I would advise you to get your order in soon if you want a copy. Thanks to Finders Keepers for kicking off the series with such a rare and valuable release.

Jeunes Filles Impudiques Contest Winner

Congratulations to Thomas Duke over at Cinema Gonzo for winning a copy of Finders Keepers Jeunes Filles Impudiques E.P. with this excellent piece on discovering Rollin and celebrating The Iron Rose. I really love Thomas' piece on the film, where he connects Rollin to Bresson, and I hope he enjoys the record! Here is the first section of his article and the rest can be read by following the link at the end. Thanks again Thomas and enjoy the E.P.!

"I think my initial exposure to the films of Jean Rollin was a viewing of Requiem For a Vampire, the old U.S. Redemption DVD release. Considering the misleading cover, I was expecting something along the lines of one of the Jess Franco vampire films (like Vampyros Lesbos), but got something entirely different. I was immediately entranced by this nearly wordless fairy tale, taking place in and around a crumbling French castle, in a tangible world both darkly mysterious and beautifully decrepit; a fantasy of the earth. While not at all what I expected, I was instantly hooked, and sought out all of the films of his that I could find. Rollin’s films are often equated in terms of their sex and horror elements, as leisurely paced genre efforts, but I think this is a case of a director who works inside of a genre (the Euro sex/horror film) in order to do something of his own making, only containing several surface elements of what is normally expected of these kinds of films." Click here to continue reading the full post over at Cinema Gonzo.

It's Finally Out!

After quite a number of delays it looks like Redemption-Salvation's disc of Jeunes Filles Impudiques is finally out. Diabolik has the Schoolgirl Hitchhikers disc listed as "In Stock" for just 14.99 and the trailer (which features wildly improved picture quality from the grey market releases) Salvation has put together is posted above.
My copy has been pre-ordered from Amazon and I have my fingers crossed that it will be on its way soon.

Schoolgirl Hitchhikers: Salvation's DVD of Jean Rollin's Jeunes Filles Impudiques

Salvation's DVD of Jean Rollin's Jeunes Filles Impudiques (Released on Salvation's Jezebel Label as Schoolgirl Hitchhikers) is one of the most disappointing discs I have ever seen. Here we have the most pristine and colorful print, ever offered up for one of Rollin's rarest films, authored to DVD in the most lazy and shoddy way imaginable. Before the bad news though, let me first say that this is still the best that Jeunes Filles Impudiques has ever looked. Comparing it to the older circulating cut version, most readily available on the Grindhouse Experience Box-set, the improvement is quite remarkable as my following screenshots show:

GRINDHOUSE EXPERIENCE PRINT:


SALVATION-JEZEBEL'S PRINT:


GRINDHOUSE EXPERIENCE PRINT:


SALVATION-JEZEBEL'S PRINT:


GRINDHOUSE EXPERIENCE PRINT:


SALVATION-JEZEBEL'S PRINT:


Sadly though, Salvation's wonderful uncut print of Jeunes Filles Impudiques has been hampered by an atrocious DVD that is among the worst I have seen since the early days of the format. Given a not-so-generous selection of just three chapters, Salvation's non-anamorphic disc is plagued by problems throughout from an annoying blurring of the image everytime someone moves (perhaps caused by a botched PAL to NTSC conversion) to a sporadically jittery frame to an overly digitized look throughout. There are other issues as well, some of which can be seen in the frames below, but I won't go into listing them all here. Needless to say, Salvation's DVD of Jeunes Filles Impudiques had the opportunity to be a grand-slam but instead it's a foul-ball all the way. The whole package just has a real lazy feel about it.

Major problems with the authoring aside I do applaud Salvation for releasing the film at all and, again, it is an improvement on what we have had before. On a personal note, I also appreciate having a quote from my original review of the film on the back of the disc.
Extras are slim and included a previously seen interview with Jean from 2008, a why-bother slide-show and a handful of trailers. Jeunes Filles Impudiques is a wonderful little film from Rollin but it is doubtful it will be released anytime again soon, so Salvation's disc will probably remain, regrettably, the best bet in town. Here are some additional screenshots I managed to capture from the DVD, which wasn't an easy feat as so much of the disc is plagued by the issues I listed above.