The Age of Commercialism

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This movie presents itself as kind of a documentary about the recent youth at that time and how wrong parental behavior and a prude society leads them into the arms of criminals and wrong-doing.While it is honorable that someone tries to break the taboo of an increasing sexuality and to show ways how to deal with it in a beneficial way, I am not entirely sure in how far at that time this was still a question of necessity. At some points you can clearly see how thoughts over sexuality have changed and that we do find some of the suggestions of this film at least questionable.Furthermore, it's hard not to get the impression that what really stands in the focus is not so much the educational value but rather the scandal of showing naked young girls on screen. So all in all it has some messages to tell, but you can clearly argue against it.

Those wacky "schulmadchens" are at it again, and no male teacher, tutor, friend's parent, or fellow student is safe! I first got into this series as a result of my unrequited lust for 70's Swedish actress Christina Lindberg, who was in several of these. She's not in this one, unfortunately, but almost all of these actresses kind of look like her in the sense that, while I hesitate to call them "girls next door" (I sure never had girls like this living next door to me at least), they have a nubile freshness to them that is much more appealing than silicone-laden, tattoo-infested skanks you tend to find in these kind of flicks today.Moreover, these films are all presented as a series of brief vignettes where the sexiness tends to be in the situation leading up to the sex rather than in interminable softcore scromping. The vignettes range from purely comical (the oddly-featured Michael Schreiner, a regular of the series, once again has the unlikely luck of getting together with a very comely fraulein, but as usual his amorous plans go horribly awry) to dramatic and slightly disturbing (a girl is injected with heroin and raped by two hippie creeps). This particular entry has an usual amount of absurd scenes of super-aggressive girls coming on to male authority figures (teachers, tutors, parents, etc.), usually with tragic results for the poor guy involved.The later films in the series would feature more recognizable actresses like the luscious Christina L. or Jess Franco-regular Katja Beinert, but they would also become increasingly tasteless, focusing more and more on rape, incest, etc. For the most part this one is pretty fun with even the more sordid scenes being pretty hard to take too seriously. Recommended.

Schoolgirl Report #2 (1971) *** (out of 4) The second of thirteen film produced in German that takes a look at the schoolgirl and what turns her on. The films pass themselves off as a documentary that includes short stories about the teen girls but also interviews people on the street in regards to various sex questions. This time out we learn about teen girls who trap their teachers into sex, young couples exploring each others bodies, how young should a girl start and various other topics. If you're actually looking for some sort of documentary on female sexuality then just walk right pass this one because the only reason for this film is the nudity. There's nothing hardcore here but the girls are constantly getting undressed and into various sexual situations. The film certainly comes off very campy today and that's one reason why I think it holds up quite well. The film starts to drag towards the end but if you don't mind a lot of nudity and don't take the film too seriously then it remains entertaining.

Between 1970 and 1980, no less than 13 parts of the "Schulmädchenreport"-Reihe were produced in Germany, making it one of the most successful film series in that country. Whereas "Schulmädchen" are school girls and the "reports" cover their alleged secret sex life hidden from the faces of their parents, soon after the success of the first films an uncountable number of similar films were rushed into Germanys cinema, making it possible to take a look onto the unspoken truths in the sex lives of housewives, secretaries, teachers, and so on. It would be fun to claim that, in essence, each of these movies has a scientific theme behind it; that especially the "Schuldmädchenreports" are intended to explore the social reality of the youth; and that, most important of all, the hilarious episodes that constitute these films, are portrayed for reasons of preventing kids from danger. None of this is true, of course, but this is the premise the films themselves give to the viewer! No miracle, then, that this particular volume starts with a reporter interviewing different "experts": policemen, sociologists and so on, all of which have a story to tell about "misguided school girls". Also incorporated between the episodes is interview footage "from the street", some of which may be real, some of which surely is faked. The single episodes that each report consists of are great fun. For instance, the first "case" is about a good-looking, yet strict and conservative teacher, Dr. Mallinger, whom three of his school girls, after making good use of sexual innuendos during an experiment in the physics class, lure into one girl's house. Expecting nothing else than a conversation with her father, Mallinger finds himself confronted with his naked student. "You have forced me into a disgusting trap", he utters, before laying her down on the sofa and taking her from behind. Needless to say that, while hidden in another room, the other girls watch closely and videotape the whole thing for further blackmailing their teacher into sexual services. Soon afterward, however, the class must learn that Mallinger couldn't take the pressure any longer: Suicide. That's what school girls are all about "in these days"! Other sequences are equally entertaining. From today's viewpoint, nudity is there but pornography is far away. The strangest element is the fact that the unintended comedy of the films wasn't already appreciated when they first hit the cinemas. It is impossible to watch a Schulmädchenreport today without being entertained greatly and laughing all the time. Very recommended also as a demonstration of the trash culture that swept over the European film scene in the 70s, creating both masterpieces and junk.