Picture of Beauty (2017) User Reviews

With a little more work it could have risen to the level of good.

[doktorf · 2/10 · 24 February 2019]

This movie is full of beautiful shots, interesting set dressing and beautiful girls. Lots of eye candy. It's really unfortunate that it has a terrible script and some rather poor acting. Some of the actors are passable, but others can't speak a single line convincingly. Also I have to disagree with another reviewer about this, it does not project the period very well at all. The early 20th century had women who wore layers of underwear and foundation garments. You would never see a woman in public in the nigh-diaphanous little nothings the leading lady favored.

All that being said, this film is a forgettable little bit of inoffensive fun, but with a stronger script and better acting it would look a lot less like a high school play.

Beautiful women

[kosmasp · 3/10 · 22 April 2021]

I mean am I supposed to be mad at the movie? Can it be actually really called that at all though? If you are into beautiful women being naked most of the running time and having ... "fun" with each other or some lucky men ... yeah ok so you could go to other places and find more of what you are looking for. Because while this is borderline hardcore, it only crosses the line occasionally.

Now I mentioned the females but you will see a lot of male nudity in this too. Maybe you are into that (that is beyond me, but it is what it is) - and yes by that I mean the private parts too! So while I thought this would be an artful movie (I guess the painiting at least can be considered that), it probably will not feel like that at all ... I wouldn't know what it feels like to be honest.

almost hardcore

[msalkin-46677 · 3/10 · 4 April 2021]

Better than average - which isn't saying much - screenplay for an almost hardcore flick. If flat-chested women with Hungarian music in the background is your thing, go for it. Special mention to the Polish actors who memorized the few lines they had in English.

The traditional Hungarian music is good!

[biljao258 · 22 September 2020]

The traditional Hungarian orchestra which provides the soundtrack, the bucolic settings and the cinematography are quite good. But the movie seems to be made by a director and cast with an offbeat sense of humour -it's a kinky story with minimal dialogue and undeveloped characters and really choppy editing set in a quaint folkloristic milieu. To go further over the top, there's frequent male and female nudity and gratuitous "full on" sex scenes ( lesbo and hetero). But hey, just watch it for the music.

This film is an excuse

[SirJavier · 5/10 · 1 December 2021]

I have the need to defend this movie. It's slow, there are barely any dialogue, the performance it's not good, it's full of art that do not belong to that time, but! This film is an excuse to present beautiful nude people, ladies and gentlemen as well, with them on long scenes enjoying themselves around the lake. They live in the opposite way of a priest and his two nuns who enjoy ruining others lives and declaring around what is a sin.

Do not expect too much out of it, just enjoy the images, the nude bodies and the sex.

simply bad

[fullgore-44663 · 1/10 · 28 January 2019]

Just bad porn, slow rhithm, non sense scenes, bad picture frame and equilibrum of image, if want to see porn, better go to see clasic pizza guy or pool cleaner, had better plot and dialogs

Terrible

[calmirio · 2/10 · 30 October 2020]

Save your time and watch a Tinto Brass if you are in mod for this genre. Soundtrack is so out of place is depressing.

Sirens is Better...

[derek-duerden · 5/10 · 10 May 2023]

... if you're looking for a film that shows an artist capturing naked tableaux of pretty girls - although several of the painting scenes (and outdoor shots) look very much like similar settings to that film. Also, although this film *does* attempt a (literal) framing device and backstory for the action, it's fairly thin fare by comparison. And the ending is pretty pathetic as a result.

As someone else has noted, this is a lot less lesbian-oriented than the marketing would imply, but the cinematography isn't that bad, most of the core cast are fairly attractive and look like they could also act if given better material.

The marketing people were more creative than those behind the camera!

[saino2001 · 3/10 · 29 November 2022]

The cover pic for this DVD would indicate that this is an erotic girl/girl film, but that's basically a trick from the marketing people to get you interested in watching this dud, as there's really nothing even remotely lesbian about it. OK, I suppose there ARE a couple of brief encounters showing unclad young women in close proximity with other unclad women, but it's painfully obvious that the writer/director included these moments almost accidentally. This film's got an overall uninteresting storyline, and what little sex is included involves guys. But notice how they didn't show any guys on the cover pic? I guess that's because it's always hotter to pretend that your film is mostly about pretty naked girls! So why didn't they actually film it that way?

In an internet world...

[molloym-58043 · 8/10 · 3 April 2021]

Marvel at "what can we call art" and then head over to Brazzers. Amazing in it's audacity. I imagine this got an EU grant. Well done!

Phenomenal

[corneliusroz · 10/10 · 3 June 2022]

Honestly one of the best representation out there. I'd say it's bad because of male writers trying to market this for male pleasure and audience only. And it backfired as it should. But great performance.

A Beautiful Motion Picture

[protectedmethod · 9/10 · 9 February 2024]

I think this movie speaks more with emotion and imagery than with words to convey an important message about freedom through sexual liberation. The film starts by showing the main character, Julia, engaging in lesbian sexual exploration with another young person from her community. She is discovered and chastised for her sins, after which her presence is no longer tolerated by some of the other Christian women. Thus, she is swiftly arranged a marriage to a devout man, who refuses to show intimacy until their union is blessed by a priest. Their wedding night reveals her husband's hypocritic lust that is now sanctioned by the church. A cruel irony is revealed when Julia attempts to gain her own satisfaction within their marriage, she is cast aside by her husband and relegated to labor in the kitchen. Her emotions of shamefulness and sadness are apparent throughout the ordeal. This is starkly contrasted to her elation when she embraces natural sexual activities in her relationships outside of the church.

A parallel plot develops alongside Julia's strife, in which an artist is commissioned to create a painting for a brothel. The artist is constantly frustrated with his work because he lacks a sufficient nude model for inspiration. Julia's friend, from her first sexual encounter, had been modeling for the painter and suggests that Julia would fit the role. When Julia finally returns back to the community from her lackluster marriage, she quickly finds happiness and fulfillment by modeling, and she forms more natural sexual relationships with other men and women at the art studio.

This movie really shines for its stunning cinematic capture of human sexuality in natural settings, and the unapologetic way that it does so. It portrays a wholesome story of a young woman finding her place in the world through sexual liberation, which is a message that many can relate to. This movie also stands out in the category of cinema with a sexual tone because it was shot with modern high definition cameras. While many films that also attempt to portray uncensored human sexuality were made in the 20th century on a low budget, this movie at least benefits from recent camera technology. This movie is also unique in that the more explicit scenes don't feel out of place, compared to some other sexually explicit movies, e.g. Tinto Brass films. They feel like they have a reason for existing other than simply displaying explicit content - that is - they visually portray the emotions felt by the main character, which is central to the message of the story.

The shortcomings of this movie are highlighted by other reviewers, so I will just to name a couple that stood out to me: the acting is often less than convincing and this movie may not have exemplary dialogue. For those reasons, I have taken off a star, but this movie receives leniency from me because of its aforementioned unique qualities, and because I personally resonate with the message it conveys.

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates natural beauty and who is interested in themes surrounding human sexual expression and attitudes towards it. If you enjoyed this movie then you may also like the Dutch movie LelleBelle (2010), which focuses on some of the same themes in a shameless and uncensored way.