Felicity (1978)

Another piece of disgusting filth I recently saw, more or less, in full on one of those dodgy streaming channels I watch, (they're experiencing server problems, so it jumped around and buffered a lot).  I really must stop habituating such cess pools of sin.  Actually, Felicity (1978) is pretty harmless by anyone's standards.  An Australian cash in on Emanuelle, it is shot in the same glossy style, looking as if someone has smeared vaseline all over the camera lens.  It also takes the same sort of 'arty' and 'tasteful' approach to its subject matter, with all the sex, (and there's a lot of it packed into ninety odd minutes), portrayed very decorously, with lots of silk sheets and discreet moaning.  I'd challenge anybody to find this aspect of the film remotely offensive.  What some modern viewers might find offensive, however, are the stereotypical portrayal of Asians as variously inscrutable and/or devious, not to mention all the usual stuff about the mysterious erotic practices of the East, known only to enigmatic, high class, prostitutes.  But hey, it was the late seventies and that sort of stuff was still current then.

The plot concerns the titular character - one of those late twenties schoolgirls so prevalent in seventies and eighties porn movies - experiencing her sexual awakening while staying with her father's friends in Hong Kong during the school holidays.  After being deflowered on the bonnet of an MGB by the regulation seventies moustachioed older cad, (it could have been worse, it could have been the back seat of a Volkswagen), she is introduced to the secrets of oriental sexual pleasures by the obligatory high class working girl.  After various sexual escapades (all very tastefully filmed), she eventually finds happiness with an Australian guy (payed by the original Philip Martin in Neighbours), who saves her from being mugged by one of those devious Asian guys.  As already noted, the film packs a lot into its running time, moving from the obligatory school changing room and shower scenes for the schoolgirl fetishes to the exotic eroticism of the Far East, taking in some voyeurism and underwear fetishism along the way, (there's even a flash back to a very mild lesbian encounter with her school friend).  It really does have something for everyone, but presented in the most inoffensive style possible.

The film was sufficiently successful that a sequel was mooted, but this never materialised.  As it stands, Felicity is actually a very enjoyable artefact of seventies erotica - a throwback to that time when cinematic porn became semi-respectable and started showing in mainstream cinemas to middle class audiences.  Indeed, the trailer for Felicity goes out of its way to emphasise the film's 'classiness', avoiding any nudity or actual sex scenes - it was clearly designed to play during showings of mainstream movies and appeal to a more 'upmarket' audience than the usual 'dirty raincoat brigade'.  It is helped immeasurably by an enormously likeable performance from Glory Annen in the title role, who is a genuinely engaging heroine.