User Reviews

I suppose you could call this an openly bisexual version of JULES AND JIM with a bit of GEORGY GIRL thrown in. Though that might be stretching it. The actress who plays neurotic Kim, Jean Lapotaire, is quite good. Since Kim is the central character, she appears in almost every scene. We observe her life with Robin (Michael Gambon), an older rich gentleman who functions as a benefactor/sugar daddy; and we also see Kim's life with a sexy model named Niki (Peter Sellers' widow Lynne Frederick), with whom she has an affair on the side.

At one point Kim leaves Robin's nest and moves into Niki's apartment. But Kim's main preoccupation is her art. Since her painting means the world to her, it is imperative that whether she lives with Robin or with Niki, she has an extra room for her supplies and a place for her latest subject to sit so she can paint them. In Niki's cramped place, Niki of course is her subject. They have a lot of sex.

Eventually they have an explosive fight. What I like about this particular drama is how messy it is. It is not neat or compact, there is no easy solution; you have to think about the characters and the predicaments they experience.

Niki is experimenting with her sexuality and when she decides she is a lesbian, she lets Kim move in and mentor her sexually. This mirrors how Robin mentors Kim, because Kim has sex with him in a submissive way like Niki is submissive with her. We can never be sure where Kim is happiest-- as the user or as the used. Though she bungles both relationships.

Kim returns to Robin after the big fight with Niki. It is learned that Niki also went back to men and decided to get married. There's an amusing sequence when Niki is on her way to the church where her bridegroom is waiting. The limo gets stopped by Kim. Kim pulls Niki out of the car and asks if she's going to like being married to a man. She kisses Niki passionately in the middle of the road. But it's really a kiss goodbye, since Niki soon returns to the car and continues on towards the church.

I should mention an interesting subplot. Kim tells Niki earlier in the story that she once was married. Apparently she had a son and lost him. This all comes full circle at the end because a painting that Kim finishes is of a Madonna. I guess we are to believe Niki will also become a mother in her new marriage. But will she find lasting joy, or will she turn out to be a messed up bisexual like Kim?