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When legendary actress and sex symbol Sylvia Kristel passed away recently, she was fondly remembered for her signature role, Emmanuelle, which brought her international stardom. But just a year after being cast in that film, she also appeared in a movie called Playing With Fire, which might have been the only legitimate GIMP role in her career. I had never heard of the film, but after some searching, I was able to locate a copy online (it's sadly not available on DVD). My print is in Italian language with no subtitles, so explaining the plot might be a stretch. But I'll give it my best shot.
Kristel herself is not the lead actress; in fact, she's only in a handful of scenes midway through the film. The real star is a beautiful young actress named Christine Boisson. And this movie shows her off quite thoroughly. With this being a French film shot in the 1970s, naturally there is abundant nudity, all involving some lovely young women. And to make it even better, there's lots of bondage and kinkiness from start to finish.
In fact, the very first scene of the movie shows Boisson captured at a train station by 2 men. They prevent her from taking the train, then she's whisked away to an abandoned tunnel under the tracks. Once they have her alone, they open up her top, grope her naked breasts and then swiftly tie rope around the upper part of her body.
When she cries for help, they gag her with a white cloth over her mouth. The next thing you see, she's been locked into a basket and carried away, presumably to a life of sexual slavery, or so it seems. And this is even before the opening credits!
Turns out the kidnapping was a fake, though, because after a ransom call to the father, she is discovered right back in her bedroom. She's safe...for now, but the bad men are after her. Apparently they're involved in sex trafficking and she's not their only target.
And the bad men are still bad men who do bad things, so it doesn't take long before another woman is attacked, this time in broad daylight. This time it's a lovely redhead; they pin her arms over her head and run a knife inside her bra. They don't cut her there but instead they lift up her skirt and slice her a couple times on her leg.
There's another scene involving a black singer in a nightclub. The men scope her out, then as she's leaving, they literally throw a net over her and carry her inside. When we see her next, she's been stripped and one of the men prepares to sexually molest her, right through the net. The scene cuts away before we see that happen.
About an hour or so into the film, we first see Sylvia Kristel. She is spotted in a nightclub and lured away from the crowd by telling her she has a phone call. And this leads to a scene where she is shown tied standing with her hands tied out in front of her to a beam on the ceiling. There are tears in her eyes as she pleads with one of the men. They untie her, but they're not through with her.
When we see her next, she's now tied on her back with her hands behind her, laying on a bed of straw in a warehouse. Her dress has been pulled down so she's now topless, and her face is still stained with tears. It's a very appealing look indeed. The men then grab her legs and tie them apart to stakes that have been nailed in the ground. She cries and begs as one of the men straddles her, rips off her panties and prepares to burn her chest with a lit cigarette. And her ordeal is captured by a photographer taking pictures, presumably for prospective clients.
This is followed by a scene where she again being photographed (topless) then led into a room by one of the men. The door closes and you hear her scream; apparently she's being sexually attacked. The last time we see her, she's on her knees and naked and is now being used as someone's sex slave.
Upon discovering there is a whole harem of naked women being used against their will, Boisson runs away and tries to escape. She's chased back inside the brothel by trained dogs and captured. And then she's returned to the bad men inside the basket we saw her in during the opening scene.
They open up the basket to find her covered in a couple of sheets; that was just for packing purposes, though, because when she's unwrapped, we discover she's already completely nude with her hands tied behind her. She wises off to one of the men, so he merely snaps his fingers and a thug appears to literally pick up the bound naked woman in his arms and carry her away. How awesome is that?
That's basically all the GIMP scenes, although Boisson is again abducted off the street in the last 10 minutes and held captive in a car during the car chase that concludes the movie.
Even without English subtitles to follow the action, it's evident that this film is a lot of fun. In a small role, Sylvia Kristel is entirely believable playing a victim; it's too bad she wasn't cast in more roles like this in her career. But obviously, there's lots more here for fans of naked women in peril. It's a time capsule example of the way movies used to be made back in the 1970s, back when female nudity and misogyny were plentiful on the silver screen, a far cry from the restrictive output we see today. If you can locate this film, it's well worth the search.
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