Le Vice et la Vertu (Vice and Virtue)
I discovered another French movie, a vintage classic this time: Vice and Virtue from director Roger Vadim (1962). Largely inspired from the Marquis de Sade's Justine (Misfortunes of Virtue), this kinky philosophical metaphor is set in a castle in Austria, where beautiful girls are kept as pets for Nazi officials in search of kinky games.
The story revolves around two sisters, Justine and Juliette, and their relationship to the cruel and depraved Sturmbannführer Erik Schörndorf. While Juliette quickly becomes his willing plaything and obviously enjoys their sadomasochistic interaction, her sister Justine puts a brave fight and refuses to yield.
Of course, Schörndorf loves a good challenge and finds hard-to-get Justine extremely arousing. Power games and total mind-fuckery follows, and Justine's dwindling resolve and ambiguous attitude is real eye-candy.
Note the blatant inaccuracies in the uniform. But hey, it's hot just the same.
Cast:
SS-Sturmbannführer Erik Schörndorf: Robert Hossein
Justine: Catherine Deneuve
Juliette: Annie Girardot