Equation To An Unknown [DVD]

I have nothing negative to say about this movie despite its overtones. If you lived in this era you'll recognize everything from the clothes, hair styles, cars and genre. The cinematography is typical of its time. Deja vue is the film's strong point. Typical of this subject matter in that time there is no story or plot to speak of but it is accurate. So based on the digital remastering and nostalgia I gave it a good rating. All said and done I'd take the purchase price and significant other out for a nice meal. I doubt this is a movie you'll visit again and again.

I didn't see this one coming. It's non stop graphic nudity and explicit HOT sex. There's not even a skeleton story like they use in modern porn. The actors were a little younger than I like, but at least they weren't shaved bald like the pedo-bait actors want to be nowadays. The picture and sound is a little better than you usually see in flicks from the 70's. I wish somebody would make some more flicks like this. Worth every penny and now #1 in my gay porn selection.

"Equation To An Unknown" (Equation a un inconnu), is a 1980 art/porn film directed by French painter, actor and cabaret owner, Dietrich de Velsa, a reclusive, mysterious figure who, under his real name (Francis Savel), worked with Joseph Losey on the mainstream films, "Monsieur Klein" and "Don Giovanni". While Savel is listed as co-director on those Losey films, "Equation" is the only movie he directed himself and it's a beaut. Set in the suburban squalor of an unrecognizable Paris, the movie follows a motorbiking young stud as he cruises the sporting fields, cafes, and back alleys for all the MLM sex he can get. And he gets plenty! Because the world of our generously endowed protagonist consists (almost) entirely of alluring young men possessed with equally impressive equipment and sexually adventurous spirits, all propositions are met with a come-hither glance and quick tug of the crotch. No one gets called out or beaten up for making an ill-advised pass because, in this world, there are no ill-advised passes: everyone has the same thing on his mind.Obviously, since "Equation To An Unknown" is, first and foremost, a gay porn film (albeit an arty one), there's a lot of hardcore sex. But it's also a melancholy film, filled with a sense of loneliness and longing that permeates the action. While the main character has his youth, looks and a motorcycle (not to mention his pants-bursting accoutrement), his constant search for sex suggests a need for more meaningful connections. When he murmurs "I wish I could love only you," to one of his partners, there's the appearance of a genuine (if fleeting) moment of self-realization before he dashes off to be the centerpiece at an orgy.As the film's unnamed protagonist, Giancarlo Longhi is both beautiful and strangely sinister, projecting an aura of mystery-bordering-on-menace when he assumes the role of voyeur. There's an additional layer of world-weary apprehension that complicates this most itinerant character, but whether or not any of this constitutes an actual performance or is simply a reflection of his persona, Longhi is an ideal focal point for de Velsa's lens to capture the hypersexual essence of the era immediately foreshadowing the AIDS epidemic.The rest of the cast includes names like Jean-Jacques Loupmon, Reinhard Montz, Jaime Sutherland, Djalil and Aurelien Duguet, among others, as various footballers, store attendants and blue-collar wanderers stunningly captured in the glorious glow of youth. Incidentally (coincidentally?), a few of these characters resemble Longhi to the extent that, at times, I wasn't sure who was doing what to whom (not that this interfered with my enjoyment of the film). Comparing these guys to those in the William Higgins oeuvre (and other purveyors of American gay porn) of the same time period, is almost beside the point. The young men in "Equation" may have similar (slender, mostly shaved) builds but they're a feral, more exotic bunch: they wouldn't be out of place in either a Tom of Finland drawing or a John Rechy novel.And yet, through it all, there is the inkling that all is not well. Even in this land of free-spirited, hail-fellow-well-met sexuality, there is every indication that something wicked this way comes. Of course, now we know. It wasn't some ignorant, knife-wielding closet case waiting in the wings to pounce upon our unsuspecting cast: rather, it's the spectre of AIDS lurking just offstage and waiting for an entrance cue. After the movie, I found myself wondering which, if any, of the performers (or director) survived that terrible period of our history.Notwithstanding the drab surroundings, many scenes in "Equation" have a burnished quality, sort of like a painterly work from the Dutch Golden Age. De Velsa was an artist, after all, and while the Parisian locales reek of poverty and despair, the backdrop vibrates with the clandestine ambience of desire and peril. Yann Gonzalez (director of 2015's excellent "Knife + Heart") has done a fine job restoring this nearly forgotten classic and has included some interesting bonus features on the disc, including an Alain Delon-narrated documentary on De Velsa's creative process (alas, in this case a painting, not the movie at hand). By and large, "Equation To An Unknown" is a dirge at the end of an orgy: a ravishing, carnally-infused fever dream, touching and arousing in equal measures, that left this man of a certain age with a mournful afterglow.

Good story

It sure keeps your attention really some 70’s soft porn

Don't believe the glowing reviews of this movie. There is no plot, most of the action consists of men staring at each other and riding motorcycles, there is almost no sexual activity, and what sexual activity there is is brief, clumsy, and very badly acted. Terrible, beyond terrible. I would return it if I could. A ripoff.

It was my intention to purchase this originally as a gift but the first got lost and by the time I got the second the gift was duplicated so I ended up keeping it to avoid the hassle of returning a second item.I was expecting something like CALIGULA by Tinto Brass, or SALO 120 Days of Sodom. This is not like those movies. I’m not going to get graphic but in actuality this is nothing more than a gay porn disguised as an art house movie. This is for adults. There is no judgment for buying, watching this movie. The transfer from original film to Blu-ray is probably as good as possible from existing material.If you attempt to follow the story, it is depressing. A man just goes around looking to fill his empty life with sex with strangers. As I mentioned earlier, the sex is graphic. If vintage gay pornography appeals to you, perhaps this may be worth your money, otherwise give it a pass.

Take a nap before watching, the film is hard to stay awake through. The sex is hilarious; horny guys with limp dicks. No storyline, poor lighting, as and poor acting.