Private Lessons (1981)

[sartana]

I did not see any thread on this so I thought I let everyone know the classic coming of age story is coming May 24. It is released by Cinema Epoch and the HD transfer is from the original camera negatives. Since the DVD was censored I wonder if this will be the original uncensored version.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Priva.../151588/#Forum

[dship007]

Hopefully... It's will be nice to see Sylvia Kristel in HD. Now if we could just get some good remastered US copies of the first three Emmanuelle films, I'd be happy. D

[HeavyHitter]

Isn't it amazing how movies like this we will see the studio going back to the original negative, yet not the case with countless other titles?

Maybe someone there had the hots for Sylvia Kristel.

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by sartana

I did not see any thread on this so I thought I let everyone know the classic coming of age story is coming May 24. It is released by Cinema Epoch and the HD transfer is from the original camera negatives. Since the DVD was censored I wonder if this will be the original uncensored version.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Priva.../151588/#Forum

In what way was the US dvd censored? I bought the UK one and then the US one. The UK one is heavily cut but I assumed the US one was uncut.

Edit - it appears only the 25th Anniversary edition was cut , not the earlier one

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by nastiesexpert

In what way was the US dvd censored? I bought the UK one and then the US one. The UK one is heavily cut but I assumed the US one was uncut.

Edit - it appears only the 25th Anniversary edition was cut , not the earlier one

Major longshot, but anyone know if the version on this set (Mill Creek) is cut or uncut?

[JaseT]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Major longshot, but anyone know if the version on this set (Mill Creek) is cut or uncut?

Are you sure that Private Lessons is even part of that set? I don't see it listed.

[jsvg00]

Originally Posted by dship007

Hopefully... It's will be nice to see Sylvia Kristel in HD. Now if we could just get some good remastered US copies of the first three Emmanuelle films, I'd be happy. D

The region free Euro versions available at amazon.uk look pretty good. Unfortunately, I doubt there will be a U.S. remaster.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by JaseT

Are you sure that Private Lessons is even part of that set? I don't see it listed.

I own that DVD set and Private Lessons is definitely not on it. It's not even listed anywhere on it.

[8traxrule]

The censoring was curious on the DVD versions- I have a Korean import which has it pixelated, and the later Lionsgate disc had a white dot. This actually aired completely uncensored on a few UHF stations in the 80s!

[tardif]

Originally Posted by sartana

I did not see any thread on this so I thought I let everyone know the classic coming of age story is coming May 24. It is released by Cinema Epoch and the HD transfer is from the original camera negatives. Since the DVD was censored I wonder if this will be the original uncensored version.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Priva.../151588/#Forum

This is great news. Mentioned this in another thread, but someone needs to start up a new thread devoted to all the releases of 70s/80s/90s T&A comedies on bluray. More and more are starting to get released, with Private Resort, Spring Break and Hardbodies most recently.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by JaseT

Are you sure that Private Lessons is even part of that set? I don't see it listed.

Originally Posted by Katatonia

I own that DVD set and Private Lessons is definitely not on it. It's not even listed anywhere on it.

My bad, folks...I have no idea what the hell I was thinking. I think Howard Hesseman is in another movie on that set, and I somehow confused the two.

However, if Private Lessons is the movie I'm thinking of, I saw it on Netflix years ago, and it's one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. It would never be made today, that's for sure. I'm shocked it's getting a Blu release, actually.

[OneWayFilms]

As a kid, I LOVED this movie. But now as a parent of two teenagers, I see this movie in a whole new light. I now realize that this movie is about a grown woman who sexually seduces and molests a minor. Yeah, to the minor, she's a hot piece and the object of every teen boys sexual fantasy, but this is not a kids movie, this is a movie for ADULTS, about molesting CHILDREN!

Now, before anyone accuses me of being a prude, please understand, one of my own daughters was sexually molested as a child and unless you experience the personal pain and grief of discovering this in your OWN family......you may not understand the reality of how harmful movies like this can be.

Most people watch this and actually get aroused and sexually charged in watching Sylvia Krystal seduce this 15 year old minor. This movie has inspired and encouraged many pedophiles.

Some might say he wasn't really 15 years old, he was older....but truth be told, he was ONLY 16 years old and they had to film those scenes in MEXICO because the age of consent in Mexico was 16, while in America, it's 18.

SO, this was ACTUALLY a movie depicting a REAL adult, and a REAL minor.

Yeah, I can remember as a kid giggling and enjoying seeing her boobies and watching her with him, but as an adult, this is a very dangerous film depicting and promoting sexual encounters with children.

Trust me, if it were YOUR child.....you'd feel differently about this too.

OK, go ahead. Let the bashing begin.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

OK, go ahead. Let the bashing begin.

Lighten Up Francis - YouTube

[Strapped4Cash]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

As a kid, I LOVED this movie. But now as a parent of two teenagers, I see this movie in a whole new light. I now realize that this movie is about a grown woman who sexually seduces and molests a minor. Yeah, to the minor, she's a hot piece and the object of every teen boys sexual fantasy, but this is not a kids movie, this is a movie for ADULTS, about molesting CHILDREN!

Now, before anyone accuses me of being a prude, please understand, one of my own daughters was sexually molested as a child and unless you experience the personal pain and grief of discovering this in your OWN family......you may not understand the reality of how harmful movies like this can be.

Most people watch this and actually get aroused and sexually charged in watching Sylvia Krystal seduce this 15 year old minor. This movie has inspired and encouraged many pedophiles.

Some might say he wasn't really 15 years old, he was older....but truth be told, he was ONLY 16 years old and they had to film those scenes in MEXICO because the age of consent in Mexico was 16, while in America, it's 18.

SO, this was ACTUALLY a movie depicting a REAL adult, and a REAL minor.

Yeah, I can remember as a kid giggling and enjoying seeing her boobies and watching her with him, but as an adult, this is a very dangerous film depicting and promoting sexual encounters with children.

Trust me, if it were YOUR child.....you'd feel differently about this too.

OK, go ahead. Let the bashing begin.

OneWayFilms,

I want to extend my sympathies for what your family has gone through. Regardless of everything else, that is more important than a movie.

Rightly or wrongly, I think that most here will look at it in the same way as many movies, where the prevailing wisdom is that you aren't supposed to think too deeply about what is actually happening in various films, from those where people die, or a great deal of damage is caused in a superhero battle and all the real world effects that that can have, to a matter such as this, and so on. I think a long conversation that would never be resolved could occur about how harmful many movies could be if their real world effects were examined, but that many people don't want to do so for various reasons, both good and bad.

I do think it worth mentioning that the age of consent in the U.S. varies between 16-18 depending on where one is located, but of course none of that includes 15.

[DaBargainHunta]

OneWayFilms, my deepest sympathies too.

Look, I have no idea how this played out to audiences in the '80s - I didn't see it back then - but when I caught it randomly on Netflix a few years ago, "What the hell am I watching?" was definitely my prevalent thought throughout the film. Was it still "entertaining," "well-made," and all of that from a cinematic perspective? Sure. But it's also something that's of its time - assuming this was ever considered acceptable in the '80s, and I guess it must have been - but it's not something that would ever be made now or translate well to today's audience and mindset.

Whether Eric Brown was 15 or 16 in real life is irrelevant IMO, because is there really a difference? Okay, 16-year-olds can drive a car, but it's not as if that's some magical age where a child is suddenly a thousand times more mature. Anyway, he played 15 in the movie and barely looked that.

I'm glad OWF posted what he did, because it's good for people to know what this movie is and isn't. This was likely meant to be "escapist" entertainment back in 1981, but too much has happened since then with teachers and students, priests, etc. for it to be viewed the same way now.

I won't lie: I didn't hate the movie, but I certainly wasn't aroused by it either. It never even occurred to me until now that that's what someone was "supposed" to feel after watching this.

Like Birth of a Nation, The Toy, etc., this really has to be looked at as a relic from a bygone era and viewed with that in mind. It certainly came across differently for me a few years ago than it would have if I had originally seen it in the '80s, like OWF and others in this thread did.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Look, I have no idea how this played out to audiences in the '80s - I didn't see it back then - but when I caught it randomly on Netflix a few years ago, "What the hell am I watching?" was definitely my prevalent thought throughout the film. Was it still "entertaining," "well-made," and all of that from a cinematic perspective? Sure. But it's also something that's of its time - assuming this was ever considered acceptable in the '80s, and I guess it must have been - but it's not something that would ever be made now or translate well to today's audience and mindset.

Agreed. I do recall the movie aired quite a bit during the early to mid 80s late at night on cable pay stations.

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by OneWayFilms

This movie has inspired and encouraged many pedophiles.

this is a very dangerous film depicting and promoting sexual encounters with children.

Do you have evidence to support this?

Paedophiles are people who are usually attracted to kids because of their immaturity.

An adult (depending on their age) having a relationship with someone a hairs breadth of the age of consent is a different matter altogether.
And the notion that this film would motivate someone to commit offences who was not already that way inclined is nonsense.

But I'm sure your motives are genuine - just as anyone who's kids had been killed by a speeding motorist would condemn the Fast & Furious series.

Your comments are a complete over reaction , but an understandable one considering your experience.

You might want to import the UK version which edits several scenes where the guy is intimate with the woman including the bath scene.

[Dex Robinson]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

.. - assuming this was ever considered acceptable in the '80s, and I guess it must have been...

Perfectly acceptable.

I watched it in the old Kings Theater...a surburban neighbourhood theater sandwiched between two schools and a firehall. The King's is closed now but here's a picture I took a few years ago.

[Show spoiler]

In the 80's we enjoyed freedom from political correctness (a term which did not then exist) and petty judgmentalism. We tended to regard each other as competent to make our own choices and decisions. PRIVATE LESSONS was a movie like any other movie that played at the Kings...btw, the Kings still holds the record for longest continous engagement of any movie in Winnipeg wherein it showed THE SOUND OF MUSIC for several consecutive years.

PRIVATE LESSONS opened, enjoyed a succesful run, then went away to make room for the next movie. It was that simple. No controversy. Just another movie in a string of movies. I loved it. It was wonderful escapism for a young man (yeah, I was young once).

Today, politcal correctness, judmentalism and second guessing old movies is a hobby for a lot of people. Yeah...I suppose everybody has to do something to pass the time. Personally, I build model airplanes.

[OneWayFilms]

Nastiesexpert: (interesting name) You asked do I have evidence to support this?

The proper definition of a pedophile is:

pe·do·phile (noun) a person who is sexually attracted to children.

When normal all-American men with a healthy sexual appetite see Sylvia Krystal in the nude and in a seductive scene, their libido is aroused and hormones are now active.

I have no problem if people want to look at that all day long, thats their business. But when you put an underage child in that same scene who is the target of that sexual seduction.......THAT'S where it becomes a problem.

Any pedophile who see's movies like this, will only fantasize about being in that scene, and doing things like that themselves. Many times, fantasy leads to action.

I don't need evidence to support this, this is a natural reaction to people who are already twisted in the brain and fantasize about children.

I'm not a prude, if people want to view pornography or sexually themed movies, that's their right to do so. But this movie is about a grown adult sexually molesting and seducing an underage child.

Would it make a difference if it were a grown man and an underage girl?

Anyone who says this is JUST entertainment, is missing the point that people are inspired by movies like this.

I'm just a loving father who understands the harm and lasting effects on a family who have been victimized by sexual perverts who prey on children and can't help but feel a bit passionate about a movie that glorifies Molestation.

Thank you for the kind words from the above posters. I am only hoping to raise awareness.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

Perfectly acceptable.

I watched it in the old Kings Theater...a surburban neighbourhood theater sandwiched between two schools and a firehall. The King's is closed now but here's a picture I took a few years ago.

[Show spoiler]

In the 80's we enjoyed freedom from political correctness (a term which did not then exist) and petty judgmentalism. We tended to regard each other as competent to make our own choices and decisions. PRIVATE LESSONS was a movie like any other movie that played at the Kings...btw, the Kings still holds the record for longest continous engagement of any movie in Winnipeg wherein it showed THE SOUND OF MUSIC for several consecutive years.

PRIVATE LESSONS opened, enjoyed a succesful run, then went away to make room for the next movie. It was that simple. No controversy. Just another movie in a string of movies. I loved it. It was wonderful escapism for a young man (yeah, I was young once).

Today, politcal correctness, judmentalism and second guessing old movies is a hobby for a lot of people. Yeah...I suppose everybody has to do something to pass the time. Personally, I build model airplanes.

I have no idea why my post inspired such a lengthy diatribe. You act like I'm advocating banning or editing the movie. I am not. Everyone is free to make their own decisions. As a movie collector, I may yet get this movie because I like having a variety of different types of films.

However, that doesn't invalidate other people's feelings and opinions. It is perfectly understandable for 1. someone close to sexual abuse to react to this movie a certain way, and 2. for us to analyze the movie in a historical context and discuss how it might come across today compared to how it did in the '80s.

You're not wrong for enjoying it when you were young, but others aren't wrong for bringing up some obvious issues with the film and/or strongly personal reasons why they feel the way they do.