Camille 2000 (1969)

Studio: Cult Epics/CAV
Theatrical Release: July 16, 1969
Blu Ray Release: June 28, 2011
Not Rated

Review by James Klein

Cult Epics has just released another Radley Metzger erotica classic on blu ray. I reviewed his film Score on this site back in the spring and unlike that silly film, Camille 2000 is pure melodrama which takes itself much more seriously. Metzger once again displays a great talent behind the camera, thus making Camille 2000 a better than average erotic love story, one that some viewers may or may not enjoy due to its tragic outcome.

The film centers on Marguerite, a beautiful French free spirit whose love for sex, money and drugs secludes herself from the average person but yet is loved and admired by many. When she isn't out and about with her lover or friends, she hosts these wild orgies at night, sometimes with a "theme". When Armand comes to Italy to visit his friend, he sees Marguerite and instantly falls in love with her. But Armand wants her all to himself and can't seem to stop her promiscuity until she starts to see the good in him. She notices that he holds something that she doesn't have; happiness. When Armand's controlling father enters the picture, he convinces Marguerite to leave his son which causes a whole new set of problems for the two.

While the film is a bit silly and sappy (not to mention overlong as this is the extended version) I couldn't help but be captivated by these two characters and their tragic love affair with one another. Daniele Gaubert is drop dead gorgeous as Marguerite, forcing the viewer to watch her every move. They don't make women like this anymore. No plastic on this body! This woman could give Nathan Lane a chubby. This time Metzger is more restrained with his sex and nudity and the film plays more like an erotic Love Story than a softcore film. Metzger does let loose near the third act when Armand, who has moved on and away from Marguerite, is invited to one of her orgies that holds a prison theme. While the film is now dated, the theme of "love found and then lost" never gets old and that is what Camille 2000 is all about. We all have fallen for someone that we cannot control, one person we cannot ever have.

Being a little disappointed with Cult Epics picture quality of Score, Camille 2000 looks and sounds much better. Cult Epics even has a small featurette on the restoration of the film. The blu ray also contains audio commentary, old 16 mm footage of the actors and crew on the set, and even more deleted scenes (featuring more of the lovely Daniele Gaubert's body).

Camille 2000 is one of the only erotic melodramas that actually held my interest thanks in part to the beautiful actors, the direction and camera work and most notably the actual human drama between the characters.