DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Elysia (Valley of the Nude) remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you are looking for a spicy, scandalous movie from the old days, Elysia is going to let you down. It is basically a boring home movie mixed with a health lecture. I think historians might like it, but everyone else will probably fall asleep after ten minutes. 😴
The whole thing starts with a reporter named Bryan. He gets sent to a nudist colony because his boss wants a big story about how 'naughty' these people are.
Bryan goes in thinking he is going to find something crazy. Instead, he just finds people walking around without clothes on, looking very serious about nature.
There is no real plot here. It is just a series of scenes where people explain why being naked is good for your skin. It feels like those educational films they used to show in school, but with more skin. ☀️
The acting is... well, it is barely acting. Constance Allen and the rest of the cast just kind of stand there and recite lines. It is not exactly The Silent Witness where you actually care about the mystery. Here, the only mystery is why this reporter stays so long.
I noticed the music is really loud and cheery. It plays over everything, even when nothing is happening. It makes the whole thing feel like a weird dream.
One scene that really got me was the volleyball game. They are playing so intensely, but nobody seems to be having actual fun. It is very stiff and awkward to watch. 🏐
The movie tries really hard to convince you that this is all about health. They talk about the sun and the air like it is a magic potion. It is actually kind of funny how hard they try to be respectable.
If you have seen A Bedroom Scandal, you might expect some drama. But there is zero drama in the Valley of the Nude. Everyone is just too polite and calm.
The quality of the film I saw was pretty grainy. Some of the shots are so blurry you can't even tell who is who. It adds to the feeling that you are watching something you weren't supposed to find in your grandpa's attic. 🎞️
I found myself wondering if the actors were actually nudists or just really broke. They look so uncomfortable when they have to sit on wooden benches. I would be uncomfortable too, honestly.
There is a lot of walking. Just people walking through trees. Then they stop. Then they walk some more.
It is definitely not a 'movie' in the way we think of them now. It is more like a very long, very repetitive slideshow. I think I checked my watch four times in the first thirty minutes. ⌚
The reporter eventually decides that nudists are actually fine people. Big surprise, right? The movie doesn't even try to have a twist ending.
Compared to something like The Awakening of Bess Morton, there is no emotional journey. You start at the camp, you stay at the camp, you leave the camp. That is the whole experience.
I did like the old cars at the beginning. They had more personality than most of the people in the camp. 🚗
Is it worth watching? Probably not unless you are really into the history of how people used to try and be 'edgy' in the 1930s. It is a strange little relic, but it is not exactly a masterpiece.
It’s a movie that really likes its own message. But the message is just "the sun is nice." Which, yeah, we know. ☀️
If you want a real story, go watch The Fakers instead. This one is just for people who want to see a very old, very slow documentary about nothing much at all.
IMDb —
1915
Community
Log in to comment.
