Exploits of a Young Don Juan
1986 · Directed by Gianfranco Mingozzi
Original language: French
- comedy
- drama
The story
In 1914, sixteen year old Roger returned home from boarding school during vacation to find his puberty hit hard in a house filled with beautiful women. These women have previous engagements with other men who are away, and during this time, Roger impregnates them all, including his aunt and sister, then devises plans to cuckold the men.
What it’s like
Warm summer light slants through shuttered windows onto overstuffed period interiors, with lace, mirrors, and sun-faded linen in creams and dusty rose, and the camera lingers on rooms and faces with a loose, knowing ease. Set in a country house in 1914, it plays as a bawdy, ironic romp rather than a serious drama, with a lazy, bantering rhythm, frequent wry asides, and a score that leans on light, playful strings and music-box touches. The mood is sensual and mischievous, the sort of sly, amused warmth that suits a slow Sunday afternoon or a late evening with a glass of wine. Its central figure is a precocious sixteen-year-old whose appetites outrun his judgment, and the story follows his escalating schemes as a comic study of youthful vanity and desire. Intensity is high: there is frank softcore nudity and sex, adolescent sexuality, spanking, and incest themes handled as farce, but no real violence and little genuine cruelty. It is not gentle, and the sexual content is front and center. It is for adults who enjoy erotic period comedy, Gallic cheek, and bawdy irony, not for anyone seeking something wholesome.
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