“100 Strokes” On the Silver Screen
December 5th, 2005 by Melissa Gira
Melissa P., a film version of the erotic memoir, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, was only bested by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when it opened this November in Italy.
Of course, in Italy, the film comes with the equivalent of just a PG-13 rating. Probably no such luck in the States. Imagine, a film about teen sexuality that teenagers themselves could be admitted to? (No, Harry Potter, complementary themes of boy/girl/boy angst aside, only marginally counts there.)
Variety reviews have pronounced Melissa P.“pseudo-feminist at best” with “[a] titillation quotient way below the average Japanese schoolgirl movie,” and:
None of the thesps even looks turned on. Eighteen-year-old Valverde’s melancholy babyface and hang-dog expression contribute little, and the actress becomes an automaton whenever the action begins. More promising are the actors, uniformly good-looking and ready to display their sculpted backsides at the drop of a jock-strap.
Are they really asking, “Where’s all the hot, teen, slut action?” Well. There’s all the more reason to get cracking on that memoir of all the messy times I enjoyed in my own black-and-red stripey tights. Ah, youth. Wasted on the grown.
December 6th, 2005 at 4:05 pm
First of all, love the new blog. Second, I just read 100 Strokes last week (I’m late, I know). I have to say that it seems over-hyped to me. Or the translation is very poor. Either way it was incredibly over-written. Have you seen the film?
December 6th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
Oh, it’s all hype these days. Sex can’t seem to sell on its own merits, by conventional standards, which is pathetic.
I read Melissa P’s book on-and-off at the same time as I read “The Surrender,” so I’ve swapped out many of the crucial details. I do remember cracking the spine for the first time and coming to the descriptions of the ubiquitous nude Klimt print on her wall, and doesn’t it close with Dietrich gazing down upon her?
I’m still holding out for the penultimate coming-of-digital-age sex memoir.
(And thanks for the bloglurv, lady.)
December 9th, 2005 at 1:04 am
I live in Italy, but didn’t see the movie and won’t.
As far as I know, the author of the book refused to have her name attached to it, and producer Mrs. Francesca Neri debuted as an actress years ago with Bigas Luna’s “Las Edades De Lulu”, which I found bit disappointing.
Maybe it’s not enough to judge without seeing it, but the hype here is fading quickly…
December 10th, 2005 at 1:15 pm
Interested that Melissa P. has little to do with it — and then of course they change the title to her name? Classic.
Was the book over-hyped there, as well? My initial reaction was something like, “What, someone’s still surprised that teenagers are doing more than necking?”
December 20th, 2005 at 2:08 am
over-hype allright!
Initially, Melissa P. was supposed to write the script for the movie too, but later she left the project, feeling her book was treated poorly, or somehting…