Again this is one you have to attempt to view in the context of the climate in which it was released; in 1969 the Sisterhood would have been all over this like a rash and Nelly Kaplan would have been well on the way to canonization for turning in this tale of a chauvinist's plaything/sex object turning the tables and 'empowering' herself and by extension downtrodden women everywhere. There's just one flaw in the ointment. Marie, aged somewhere around 20 has (presumably) been treated as a doormat in general and sex object for the pleasure of both the men of the village and at least one lesbian landowner. She lives with her mother in squalor, which is a hut with no electricity/running water on the outskirts of the village. One day the mother dies and a light goes on over Marie's head: she's through being the village bike for free, now they'll have to pay to lay. AND THEY DO! Why? She hasn't suddenly become proficient in karate, developed a genius level IQ, or metamorphosed into a cross between Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot. Why would these men (and woman) who had been more or less raping her for years suddenly become pussycats and dance to her tune. They Wouldn't, of course; in reality they'd run her out of town on a rail BUT if you can accept this premise this is a neat little satire which hits 90 per cent of the targets it aims at and is funny with it.
Review of A Very Curious Girl
