Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Sick Product of a Sick System

I wanted to but couldn't!

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Film is still young enough for there to be credible arguments about just what it is.Its entirely possible for someone to believe it is about what photography is, what the majority of us think photography is.Here's a photographer, and he believes that. His photographs evoke remembrances of an innocent sexuality, false memories certainly but sweet smelling. There's a deliberate unreality in the photos, with girls in nearly surreal poses with the lens gauzed as if there were a barrier of sorts between our reality and that we see — or is it imagine?There's all sorts of implied narrative in these still photos. They are so, so very rich in what they imply.Now to film. I've seem "Laura," which was successful in a minor way because the artist dreaming about the new woman was placed in the story explicitly. Oh and he has vision problems, and he needs to translate his story by shifting senses (to touch) just as we do from photo to movie.This is his next project. I really don't know what he was thinking. Before he had sexual imaginings, here he simply has sex. Before he focused on a wonderful symmetry: our imaginations of a young girl balanced with her imaginings of an older man. I guess he thought he could work a similar symmetry here with a young boy instead of the older artist. But it fails in an extraordinarily large way.I think that is because in this case he invested too much in the story, the power of the story to carry the thing, and he drifted too far away from where he has power, the image. I think "Walkabout" successfully does what this attempts. Go there instead.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

What's wrong with this guy? As one reviewer elsewhere sarcastically suggested, Hamilton as a photographer at least, is such a legend in his own mind he thinks he is also a film director extraordinaire! This little work-out should have convinced even HIM to give it away!As always in a Hamilton epic...I mean soft-porn flick, young girls cavort around in uninhibited fashion (presumably they are well paid in this regard). THIS time however when all things even out, all they have left is a 14 year old boy (he looks it too). Is this guy lucky or what? still with such attention as comes his way (pardon the pun) he can at least finally "relate" to his own girlfriend.Gives new meaning to the term "Kissing Cousins"

As others have mentioned, all the women that go nude in this film are mostly absolutely gorgeous. The plot very ably shows the hypocrisy of the female libido. When men are around they want to be pursued, but when no "men" are around, they become the pursuers of a 14 year old boy. And the boy becomes a man really fast (we should all be so lucky at this age!). He then gets up the courage to pursue his true love.

"Tendres Cousines" has generally been placed into two categories in the past: sex comedy and those kinds of movies which are mainly about artsy cinematography. However, if it belongs in the first category, it is mostly boring, pretentious, dreary, and painfully unfunny (French movies usually fail to distinguish between cute and funny). If it belongs in the latter category, than the cinematography is a grainy mix of shots which resemble traditional paintings and also of downright ugly shots which could probably be attributed to the film´s low production values. However, the movie is notable for a different reason. While it only has about 9 sex scenes, about 4 involve Julien, the film´s 14 year old hero who actually looks 14 if not younger ! These tend to be relatively explicit, chock full of nudity and even hint at incest. Of course, the movie is probably intended to show a case of what can happen during puberty and what can lead adult or almost adult women (the women in the movie, by the way, are gorgeous) to have sex with a boy that young. Or, it could just be an attempt at a teenage "Emmanuelle". Nevertheless, it surprises me that this movie was not banned in the U.S. as child porn - not that it necessarily should be but Americans tend to be extremely sensitive to the problem of teen exploitation . All in all, "Tendres Cousines" is a weird and somewhat twisted little movie. Pedophiles and people who think that French people can do no wrong should love it.