Verdict
Summary
The movie is as light and fluffy as a cream-filled croissant, and it’s mostly empty calories, but it sure tastes good.
Plot:
A young woman checks into a hotel and over the course of a night she discovers her sexuality.
Review:
A woman named Escritoria (Catherine Spaak) with a manuscript shows up at a publisher’s house and holds him at gunpoint. The publisher (played by Fernando Rey) is forced to read her manuscript aloud all the way through to prove that her story is worth publishing. Her story is simple, but effective: A beautiful young woman named Anny (Clio Goldsmith) checks into a labyrinthine hotel run by the incredibly buxom and beautiful landlady (played by Donatella Damiani) who welcomes Anny with a warm and sexy hospitality. Anny takes a bath and then discovers a secret viewing spot into another room where a man (played by Luc Merenda) practices secret rituals where he exercises almost in the nude, and Anny’s sexuality is awakened when she finds herself greatly attracted to this mysterious man. After her bath, she ends up wandering around (naked, by accident) and she finds herself in other rooms and hiding under beds where other guests make love. Eventually, she ends up sliding into fantasy sequences where she dances, and then by the end of her journey she’s at the mercy of the silent man in his secret room where she is beholden to his sexual prowess.
As simple and A to B “plotting” as Honey is, it’s remarkable that it is as entrancing as it ended up being. A borderline comedy / spoof of the sexploitation / erotic genre, it really hinges on the lead actress’s magnetism, and luckily Clio Goldsmith is stunningly gorgeous, and the way she’s directed by Gianfranco Angelucci is perfect. The camera captures her facial expressions in ways that are surprising and unusual, and the movie wouldn’t work at all if it hadn’t been for the way she’s presented. She had just the right amount of sexy innocence and vulnerable qualities that a movie and a story such as this needed. The movie is as light and fluffy as a cream-filled croissant, and it’s mostly empty calories, but it sure tastes good.
Raro Video’s brand new Blu-ray edition of Honey looks and sounds great in high definition in a crisp 1:85:1 widescreen transfer. There are no special features.
