Fruits Of Passion
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Cast: Klaus Kinski
Extras: Klaus Kinski Biography
Rating:
Here’s a film that’s a little different from Anchor Bay’s usual fare of obscure horror and action films. Klaus Kinski stars as Sir Stephen in ’Fruits of Passion’, which is also known as ’The Story of O Continued’. The film concerns O (Isabelle Illiers) going to China and becoming a slave at a brothel. She and Sir Stephen feel that if she can pleasure many men, that she will love Sir Stephen even more. (What?!) In the meantime, Sir Stephen is seeing another woman (played by Arielle Dombasle) and they talk of returning to France without O. O is subjected to many cruelties in the brothel, but comes to befriend some of the other employees. Will O become strong enough to leave Sir Stephen and his unique ways?
’Fruits of Passion’ is many things, but it’s never dull. The film offers a great deal of melodrama in its situations and performances. Also, it offers many scenes of bizarre sexuality. The film was shot in what appears to be Hong Kong (but it’s in French, go figure), and shows many of the city’s locations. Illiers is very good as O, and of course, Kinski is scary as hell. Do I really need to see Klaus Kinski naked? ’Fruits of Passion’ will be the perfect appetizer for those who are looking for a softcore film that offers something a little different.
The Anchor Bay DVD of ’Fruits of Passion’ offers a nice transfer of this foreign production. The film is presented in an anamorphic widescreen and is letterboxed at 1.66:1. The picture is very crisp and clear, showing only minimal defects in the source print. The colors are somewhat muted and some scenes appear dark, but this is typical of a foreign film from the eighties and most likely has nothing to do with a flaw in the transfer. The picture shows only subtle grain at times, and there is no sign of any significant artifacting. ’Fruits of Passion’ offers a French soundtrack or an dubbed English soundtrack, both in Dolby Digital Mono. There are easy-to-read English subtitles to go along with the French soundtrack.
The only extra on the DVD is an biography of Klaus Kinski, which is definitely worth checking out. The bio focuses on the fact that Kinski was mentally unstable, and offers many bizarre (and often violent) quotes from Kinski showing his view on acting and filmmaker Warner Herzog. Scary stuff!
