Franek (Hajnos) is a talented art forger and painter who along with his loyal assistant Hazel (Bochan-Jachimek) – herself a talented artist – are commisioned by a glamorous Madam (Sylwia Kaczmarek) to produce a piece for her brothel to hopefully drum up more business. Although his subjects at the brothel are beautiful, Franek yearns for more and calls upon his assistant to find more models. Freshly expelled from university for her views, beautiful and strong minded political activist Stephanie (Rose) answers the call and takes an instant liking to the shy painter. Her young friend Julia (Sands) would be a perfect subject too, but she has recently been arrested for escaping the bonds of her cruel and much older husband (El Muafy). A man who just happens to be an influential police officer. The group literally (and metaphorically) free Julia meaning that Franek can hopefully complete what should be his masterpiece and hopefully find love for himself. Ok. That’s taking it a bit too far, but I can safely say as a lover of erotic cinema of yesteryear – Maxim Ford’s Picture of Beauty touched me in all of the right places. I should also say that although an explicit film at times, this is not just a piece of exploitative and sordid ‘sinema’. This is an honest, piece of erotic filmmaking that titillates in places, but has a message and makes the viewer think. Set somewhere in pre-First World War Eastern Europe, Picture of Beauty explores the sociopolitical landscape of the time. Religion rules over all and it’s staunchest followers act out heinous punishments to those who stray from the “righteous” path. To close, I thought I would share some words from the director himself that sum up the film perfectly.:

There are moments when lines are delivered a little bit clumsily, but you have to take in to consideration that the film is English language and the performers are mainly European. Thankfully, all of those involved put in visually strong performances as there really isn’t too much dialogue. The star of the show for me was Taylor Sands. Not only is she beautiful, but her performance as the young and innocent Julia is very believable and you almost get a vibe of De Sade’s Justine. What will surprise some people (mainly those who are ignorant.) is that Sands is a popular adult performer. I hate this notion that because someone is a performer in the adult industry, they must be terrible at acting. Have you not watched golden age adult cinema? I think that Sands has a great future in “legitimate” film. In fact, I would love to see more films like this in general. A voyeuristic, yet sexually repressed painter commissioned by a Madam for her brothel. Two young friends exploring feelings for each other. Corrupt police officers and morally corrupt religious zealots. Arranged marriages. Appreciation for art. Beautiful girls in period dress… It’s almost like De Sade, Franco, Pasolini and Borowczyk are having a brain storm session wherever they ended up after death.

Picture of Beauty streaming free