Another classic Greek erotic movie.
| Alternate Titles |
|---|
| The Ceremony Netherlands hard core video release on VIA video, English sound, 95 minutes. This was also the title of the film’s international release. Insel der Begierde Dir. given as Werner Hauff Soft. German videorelease on Toppic video, 75 mins, German sound. Itan kapote Parthenes Greece, hard version (VHS only), c. 93 mins. English translation: ‘They Were Once Virgins’. Porno Frenesie di una Vergine early 1980s Italy, theatrical release of the hard version Sex ke Archeokapilia alternative title (VHS only) of Greek hard version. English translation: ‘Sex and Smuggling of Antiquities’. Sometimes written Sex kai Archaiokapilia. |
| Actresses |
During the 1970s & early 1980s, the so-called ‘golden’ era of Greek Porn, more than a hundred erotic soft-core films were produced. This ‘boom’ happened in parallel with the decline of the traditional local (but strong) cinema industry, leading many famous mainstream actors and directors (the more bold and sexy ones, many young talents as well as other traditional actors and directors lacking work) to participate in such erotic movies, which attained some considerate commercial success at the time and were widely projected all over the country. Gradually, and following the strong development of European porn, Greek audiences started persistently hearing rumours of hardcore performances by several of these well-known actors, and also about many hardcore scenes shot in parallel, destined for the foreign markets and sometimes projected as ‘inserts’ in specialized porn cinemas in Greece. The main source of such rumours, besides some ‘connoisseurs’, were essentially Greek sailors or students working or travelling overseas. The delayed sexual liberation in Greece (at least as far as hardcore sex was concerned), that took place around 1982-1983, combined with the sudden explosion of video production and distribution in the whole country, finally proved that in several cases, the filmmakers of the 1970s (essentially relatively young specialists and technicians, that had all learned their art well, by participating in the making of all the important traditional mainstream films of the time) did actually shoot several hardcore scenes for foreign export. However, the producers have always remained extremely silent about it, evidently trying to protect their ‘professional’ reputation or those of some of the well-known Greek actors. Needless to say, most of them are still working today, essentially on TV.Around 1983, a film called Itan kapote parthenes was released on VHS in Greece. It was soon made clear that it constituted the hard core version of O. Efstratiadis’s Erotiki teleti. (Some time later, the same was to be noted about his film Gimno fotomodelo.) As was the case with all Efstratiadis’s productions, what we have here is by far the best example of the typical style of Greek sex and pornmakers in the seventies: generally very nice photography, beautiful settings, consistent plot, good-looking women and finally, some fine genuine hardcore sex, that had little to envy from other european productions. Maria Konsta, a still-beautiful juicy brunette makes a smashing debut (she later turned to some second-rate mainstream acting and singing), whereas Christos Nomikos, today a quite successful TV and theatre actor, confirmed his reputation among his profession for being, both onscreen and off screen, ‘the major greek stud’ of his generation. Actually, all of his sex scenes with both Konsta and Stamou generate authentic sexual heat, although a closer look suggests that some of it may have been shot in a studio. (His first sex scene at the beach, showing him fucking Konsta, while at the same time Stamou is masturbating herself, has to be considered, in my opinion, as one of the most erotic and beautifully shot hardcore scenes of European porn in the 70s!) This is not quite the case in the scenes between Romanou and Gindis, where some fake hard core inserts have probably been added. One should also remark that the original hardcore scenes (of a total duration of approx. 70 mins) cover the whole plot of the film, leaving an overall nice impression, and enhancing regrets about the lack of a ‘complete’ version of this film, that would have, by some calculations, a duration of 150 minutes!Information from demster (The Ceremony, Insel der Begierde) and skatschko (Erotiki teleti, Itan kapote parthenes & final remarks).
Erotiki teleti, a soft Greek version, in the Greek language, presents the whole story in a very logical way, including several typical ‘Greek’ scenes. It is about 79 minutes long. In comparison to other versions –
- Elektra’s opening masturbation scene is soft but quite long;
- all local scenes are presented in detail (friends play Greek games, drink small cups of Greek coffee, Elektra and Maria pass by at local festivities, Stefanos’s zeibekiko dance scene)
- the sex scenes between men and women are shorter and softer than in the German version;
- the ‘ceremonial’ sex scene that starts when Elektra gets jealous and goes to masturbate in her room (with her fluffy teddy bear), only to be later introduced by Katy to Stefanos, is presented in detail;
- the final scene with all the cast gathered together at the police station is presented in a complete way.
Insel der Begierde, the German softcore release has a somewhat shorter duration (c. 4 mins) which is due to-
- the shorter duration of Elektra’s (somewhat softer) opening masturbation scene, as well as of her lesbian scene with Katy
- the absence of all local (typically Greek) scenes (no festivities, no coffee or games, no zeibekiko dance), including a somewhat shorter description of the actions of the police
The Ceremony, a full hardcore version, in English, made for European export (c. 95 minutes), and Itan kapote parthenes (same as Sex kai Archeokapilia), a full hardcore version, in Greek, released in the 1980s (c. 94 minutes) –
- Elektra’s opening masturbation scene and her lesbian scene with Katy are hard, long and hot;
- all the sex scenes (outside, mostly near or even in the sea; once amidst the ruins of a village) are hard
- the story is on the whole quite complete, though lacking many details especially in the description of local scenes
