A Movie about Sex, Marriage, Frigidity, a sexual surrogate, and Psychiatry.

[duhduh666]

I have been trying to identify a film I saw in the late 80s that may have been
from the early part of the decade or the 70s. It is maybe a European film based
on my memory but it could be South American. I do not
remember exactly but it may have been dubbed.
It is about this woman who gets married to this guy that she loves and has
already had a long courtship with him but she is unable to enjoy sex with him.
She finds about this frigidity her wedding night as she is still a virgin(I
think who has been suspecting she is frigid since her teenage years). The
reason is psychological, she thinks her father murdered her philandering mother
and got away with it. She last saw her mother about to make love to a masked man
at a party that was not her husband. she was a little girl then and this is
shown in a flashback. The dad sees this and catches his wife in the act and the
girl thinks he killed her for it. In order to set herself in order and get to
the root of her frigidity, she goes to a psychiatrist who arranges sexual
liaisons with a man in a mask just like the man she saw her mother with. He
feels this will get to the root of her problem.She hides this from her husband.
And enjoys sex with the man in the mask. It appears her frigidity goes away when
she is with him. at the end of the movie, She tells her husband about this
secret affair. He
forgives her but asks her to accept him. She shudders and he walks away.
Later,she reconciles with her husband. apparently, the psychiatrist had
arranged her husband to be the masked man to get over her trauma. she also finds
out that her father did not kill her mother. Does this ring a bell to you? This
movie may be from the 70s or early 80s. I do not remember the name of it.
The movie has a voice over of the actress narrating parts of the story
especially when she first has sex with her husband.
I saw a bootlegged copy of this on video in India probably 88 or 89. It may have
been dubbed and is in color.
It is not a Jess Franco feature as I am very familiar with his work. And its
probably not available on DVD and may be out of print.
Here are some more memories. The movie has a voice-over which is of the main
actress. The film initially shows a courtship between the lead actor and
actress. They get married and on the wedding night, when her on screen husband
makes love to her, she screams. There is a voice over here where she is saying
that her husband thinks she is screaming in pleasure but that is not the case.
The film shows a flashback of the actress as a little girl. There is some kind
of Halloween or fancy dress party where everyone is wearing masks. The girl
sees her mother having sex with a strange man and her father walking in on it.
Another memory I have is the lead actress meeting with a psychiatrist who
suggests she makes love to a masked man to bring her repressed feelings to the
surface. They show some love-making sessions between her and the masked man. By
the end of the film, we find out that the psychiatrist had arranged her husband
to be the masked man. Near the end of the film, before she finds out, she is
talking to her husband and they separate. the next scene, she is at the masked
guy's place to have another session. At the end of the film she finds out that
her mother was mentally imbalanced and committed suicide. She mentions how
sorry she feels about blaming her dad for it.
After browsing the internet, it appears that this film has a storyline similar
to 'The Frigid Wife' and 'Please don't touch me'. I am wondering if it was a
rip-off of these films. I am sure its from the 70s or 80s because of full
female nudity. It should be European perhaps Italian but it could also be a
dubbed South American film. I saw it in India on vhs in the late 80s.

Do you know which film this is?

[Trevor]

There's a Canadian film very similar to what you're describing, entitled "The Surrogate" with Art Hindle and Shannon Tweed.

I don't know if this is the film you're looking for. 

[duhduh666]

Thanks for the reply. But it is not that film. Infact it is not one of those cheesy hollywood direct to cable or video erotic flicks. 

[IzzyDedjet]

Sex, Lies and Video Tape?

[316zombie]

hhmm..i have that on tape somewhere,i can't recall a masked man?

[IzzyDedjet]

Been a while since I've seen it, but isn't the mask something to do with one of the women's husbands?

[316zombie]

i'll dig it out and take a look...my memory ain't the best,lol!

[duhduh666]

316zombie,
Thanks I would really appreciate that. The masked man is the husband arranged by the psychiatrist to be the masked sexual surrogate. the wife doesnt know this till nearly the end and thinks she has just had another lover of some kind. She finds out at the end that her husband is the masked man and this cures her pyschosis and frigidity. She finds out her dad didnt kill her mom and forgives him. If you can fish out any details such as cast, crew, anything, I can dig it up on the net. my email is duhduh666@hotmail.com or retard33@gmail.com

[duhduh666]

IzzyDedjet,

Thanks but it is not Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Its a much rarer film and definitely not an indie flick that enjoyed mainstream success.

[316zombie]

i agree,this isn't in sex lies and videotape....i'm wondering about a bergman flick i have,trying to find it among my tapes,can't think of the title!hubby is also checking polanski and fellini films...the more i reredad your post,the more bells i hear....

[duhduh666]

Thanks for the reply. But I do not remember the film as being the classiest I had ever seen. So I'm a little skeptical of it being a Bergman or a Fellini film. But anyhow, you may check.

[Spiff]

Long time since I saw it but some of the elements match a film called Bliss.

[316zombie]

no go on bergman,polanski or fellini...

[duhduh666]

Bliss, which one? Its not the movie with Sheryl Lee from 1997. Cant find any other on IMDB that match up. Did a search with the title Bliss. But this movie definitely had a 70s/early 80s look to it. The others that are listed do not have any information. So if you could provide more details, then I could search for it online.

[Spiff]

Sorry, I was talking about the one with Sheryl Lee.