L ist nicht nur Liebe (1980)

L ist nicht nur Liebe: Directed by Gordon Willis. With Talia Shire, Joe Cortese, Elizabeth Ashley, Kay Medford. Emily is the subject of a perverse obsession by a gay neighbor, Andrea, who not only is in lust with her but hires a rapist in order to get audio tapes of her moaning. Andrea turns peeping tom and watches Emily with a telescope as she begins a love affair with Detective Luffrono.

“This is one of those flicks Iu0026#39;ve wanted to see since it came out (I was underage at the time). The plot just sounded very freaky and bizarre. Regardless, it is one of the THE most impossible films to find since I donu0026#39;t believe it got a video release (except overseas) and I donu0026#39;t even think it played on cable in the u0026#39;80s. It is however on YouTube now :-).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film gets trashed by a lot of people immediately as being non-PC and homophobic. I think thatu0026#39;s more a signpost of when the film was released, when attitudes toward people with other orientations werenu0026#39;t so enlightened.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNo, the core problem behind this picture is that itu0026#39;s just a raving, stinking mess, and it really is virtually all Willisu0026#39; fault. When you read the opening credits, your jaw drops…they read like an A-list of movie greats: Morricone, Bourne, Willis as DP. How could they screw this up? Easy. A) Donu0026#39;t build any suspense; B) Donu0026#39;t establish any characters or motivations; C) Allow the writer to write any damn thing he wants to, no matter how stupid or no matter what expense to the actors; D) Resort to constant dissolves when you donu0026#39;t know what else to do, especially since there is virtually no coherent action; E) Donu0026#39;t direct your actors…after all theyu0026#39;re pros, they know exactly what to do. The list goes on….u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a stalker movie….it should be about stalking. There is absolutely no fear built, no tension. Itu0026#39;s a real master class in wasted celluloid.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStill, part of me has to admire this in a way you sometimes admire any bad movie. It sure didnu0026#39;t have any self-censoring going on. it did what it wanted to do and took no prisoners. One of the many things that makes it a museum piece today, even if that museum is a wax one.”