The Isle du Levant Movie Review
Summary
The Isle of Levant – A documentary on the island of naked sunbathers! On the Isle of Levant off the French Riviera, bathing in the nude isn’t just practiced, it’s highly encouraged. This 1956 documentary travelogue is narrated by E.V.H Emmet.
Naturist interest
The final destination of the documentary travelogue focus is the Ile du Levant, given the history of the island home to the Heliopolis naturist resort community. You might think that would make the naturist interest high. But it’s not what you think. It is over a half of the hour long film before Ile du Levant is actually covered. Even once they arrive the naturist clothes free element of the resort community is lost since everyone, men and women wear G-string bikinis. No creative camera angles to obscure the pubis area they are always covered here. This just doesn’t align with the naturist history of the island that bans all clothing at outdoor activities. 1An Afternoon Spent Where Clothes Are Prohibited. Those looking for naked bodies will be sorely disappointed until the 50 minute mark of the 68 minute film, when the participants go swimming and diving like naturists do.
Story
As documentaries go this film is pretty limited in the the documentary information it conveys. as a travelogue it is barely passable. But in general the film feels disjointed and left me unsure that is was trying to accomplish. It can’t seem to make up it mind about that and includes feeble attempts at comedy that do nothing to add to the overall value of the film. A couple of the men hanging around with the women who started out on the travel adventure come off as a bit creepy by today’s standards. too many of the scenes are short cuts and some seem completely out of place. Like a woman playing castanets over a pot of food, and a scene about fire at the end. While it may be accurate to speak of fire on the island being a great concern it seems like nothing but a time filler.
Production
The production on this film is probably the only part of film that warrants more than two stars.There are lots of views and locations that give the viewer. The film fluctuates between color and a variety of monochrome tones. The underwater swimming scenes are well done.
Acting
There is no acting to speak of in the film. They characters presented in the film, meant to add some human presence seem stereotypical and contrived. Their only real values come from depicting some of the outdoor naturist activities available to island visitors.
Conclusion
The title not withstanding, As much as I might like to, I cannot recommend this film. For the naturist viewer, Beyond the limited screen time for the title location, there is very little about the film that works. So I’d say unless you are seeking to explore vintage film making or shooting underwater, give this one a pass.
Watch Isle of Levant ( ill du levant)
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