Every so often a nude scene gets paired with a song that, for better or worse, ends up making it that much more memorable, and Mr. Skin’s recent look at period films with modern music had us thinking about a 50s-set film from France with a distinctly 80s soundtrack - and lots of phenomenal French flesh.
Roger Vadim’s 1983 dramedy Surprise Party tells the story of teens in the French commune of Amboise doing what teens in 1950s France do once school is out and they’re left to their own devices - lezz out with your bestie in the bed of a 16th-century monarch in an old chateau.
****
Charlotte Walior Nude and Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Nude in Surprise Party
The movie’s multiple sex scenes, including the aforementioned sapphic sequence starring Charlotte Walior and Emily in Paris star Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, are scored by Michel Magne (with help from Sergio Renucci), who coincidentally based his own recording studio in a different old chateau, Château d’Hérouville, which notably hosted recording artists like David Bowie and Pink Floyd. Michel mostly composed soundtracks throughout the 60s and 70s with Surprise Party being one of his last works.
****
In some instances, it seems like the music is doing its best to imitate the doo-wop sound of the decade, such as Charlotte’s later bedroom boob reveal, but in her lesbian love scene featuring Philippine’s full frontal, as well as Philippine’s equally nude candlelit slow dance with a fella, the music can’t seem to give off more contemporary vibes.
****
Is it the full orchestra? Is it because the background vocals are going way too hard? Is it the sound echoing off castle walls? Or is it just hard to capture a specific time period when you’re not using music that already existed at that time? Perhaps movies like 1986’s Peggy Sue Got Married and La Bamba are better examples of how to make a movie about the 1950s three decades later for this specific reason. Or is it an intentional choice due to the salacious subject matter? Either way, the world is due for more nifty fifties nudity.
