Joy and Joan (1985) User Reviews

Viewing in America

[lambiepie-2 · 5/10 · 26 January 2006]

I have been looking for this film on IMDb for a bit and finally found it under Joy: Chapter Two.

I want to say that I saw this film first, uncut on the "Z" Channel's 'night owl theater' in the 80's before the channel went to a sports format, and then several years later in the 90's I saw it on Cinemax and Showtime. What I remember about the Cinemax and Showtime showing is that the night they showed this film, it was on at the same time. Here, you saw where cutting of the film was, and how Cinemax showed a bit more than Showtime, but NOT as much as the old "Z" Channel which showed it in its original language (with English subtitles) and length. Both the Cinemax and Showtime versions were dubbed in English which I find...distracting.

I hadn't seen the first film 'Joy', so I was looking at this without any prior knowledge and viewed it as an adult foreign film as Z featured from time to time. What stuck me about the film was the lead actress who played Joy, Brigette. She was strikingly different. She had a 'something' you couldn't put your finger on. I had never seen anyone who looked like this before. You see, with the Z Channel's Night Owl Theater, we were introduced to many women in foreign film who fit descriptions America cinema has yet to embrace. (And still no one comes close to these International women from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's)

Again, for those interested in a soft-core 'sex romp', this may be up your alley (the Cinemax semi-uncut version), but what I got out of this was a story about a woman who has this uncontrollable torch for a man (Marc) who couldn't care less about her -- or does he? No matter what else she does (and she is uninhibited) or who she does it with - her complete satisfaction comes from Marc.

But she meets a very head strong woman, Joanne, in which the two get involved but have two very different attitudes towards sex and love. Joanne loves Joy - Joy loves Marc but has an insatiable sexual appetite - when Marc isn't available. But Joanne is either titillated or fascinated with Joy's submission to Marc (because it isn't quite an attraction, per ce). And the end of this story is actually the beginning of Joy's story which seemingly has come full circle.

Yeah...there was something about a guy following Joy around and I'll be fair by saying, it wasn't an important plot point to me. He kinda faded into the scenery and locales. Speaking of locales: one scene that I noticed and effected me was the scene where the kids are running to the cart/taxi and were receiving coins from the actors...I could see that that was not staged.

I want to add that there is an orchestration in this film that I find very haunting and romantic. Just the orchestration - not when they add the singer. I wish I could just find that.

Probably because I didn't see the original 'Joy' until later in the 1990's, I didn't like it as much as this one. I found the actress in that one to be nothing special and the story was not all that interesting to me from what I could make out. The first one was just not my cup of tea.

Call me a prima because the "sexual" scenes were not of any big focus for me in watching this because you could remove them, or edit them down (such as Showtime did) and still have a watchable film. This sequel seemed to have some "glue" to it and my interest in watching how "different" looking the lead two actresses were did keep my attention throughout.

And what can I say ... I really wanted that hat Joy was wearing in the beginning when she was at her modeling shoot!

Complete trash, uninteresting and not erotic. Stay away.

[IndustriousAngel · 3/10 · 7 February 2016]

Brigitte Lahaie sure has a great body, but while that may be enough to carry a porn flick, the soft "Joy and Joan" suffers severely from her acting capabilities (or lack thereof). As "Joy" she gives Clint Eastwood a run for fewest expressions per face, when she and "Joan" undress to go at each other, why, they might as well be baring themselves for their gynaecologist going by their enthusiastic faces. There's exactly two scenes in the whole movie where Brigitte is laughing, both while being liberally splashed with water so she probably couldn't help herself - but she looks nice during those seconds.

Ad to that a grating soundtrack, a paper-thin plot and horrible acting from most anyone else, and the only redeeming qualities that remain are some nice locations and the pretty bodies. I was pointed to this movie by some positive reviews but got severely disappointed.

Great Brigitte Lahaie vehicle; so-so book adaptation.

[StudentDriver · 8/10 · 7 November 1999]

As far as "anonymous"-written soft-core pornographic books go, the Joy series can be considered a classic with Fanny Hill and The Story of O. Certainly not as well known as the others, but fairly erotic and entertaining...

Joy: Chapter 2 is an adaptation of the second book (usually titles Joy and Joan); as an adaptation, it barely follows in the book's tracks. As soft-core in its own right, however, it's a great movie.

Joy is played by Brigitte Lahaie- a distinctive looking (and beautiful) actress known mostly in America for her role as a prostitute in Henry & June, but known more in Europe for being a former hardcore porn actress and star of many exploitation films afterwards. Basically, in this film, Joy runs away from her sexually-abusive husband, and goes overseas. There she meets and becomes sexually involved with a young woman (girl in the book), while being tailed by a man whose intentions are unknown.

Obviously, the main draw of this film isn't the story, but the sex scenes- which are plenty. Brigitte is, as mentioned above, unique looking- she is not your run-of-the-mill sex kitten. She takes her role and runs with it; no matter how non-explicit her scenes are, she's great to watch, and she really knows what she's doing during the sex scenes. Her female partner (whose real name escapes me) also comes across well; she seems to be younger and energetic, and she provides a contrast to the more mature and thoughtful role Brigitte plays.

Are there better movies of this type? Probably. Are there better Brigitte Lahaie movies? Probably. But Joy: Chapter 2 is still an entertaining romp, that may just make you into a fan of Brigitte, too.

Brigitte Lahaie's a Goddess in this Euro-trash potboiler

[Captain_Couth · 10/10 · 7 October 2003]

Joy et Joan (1985) Brigitte Lahaie is Joy, she's a well traveled woman who's on holiday in Indonesia. She travels all around southeast Asia looking for excitement and pleasure (Indonesia, Indochina and The Philippines). Along the way she meets a young, short haired curvy brunette named Joan. The two strike up a friendship along their way back to France. What happens next? Well that would be all too telling. Pseudo sequel (in name only) to the Joy series.

Sadly, this movie is next to impossible to find. Unless you, live in a place like Europe or Japan. The U.S. has no respect for film of this caliber. The film industry is obsessed with bleached blonds with fake parts of the female anatomy.

Highly recommended Euro-trash.

A++++

By all means seek this one out, you wont regret it!

Brigitte Lahaie!

[Linda_S · 8/10 · 9 November 2008]

This is actually a beautiful love story, very steamy, although I would have preferred more rather than less eroticism, it was 'R' rated the version I saw.

Stunning locations, beautiful people, some fine acting, characters with some depth, and a great deal of pathos I might also add in one particular case.

Lahaie is simply one of the best of the European erotic actresses and she makes anything watchable.

This film should have been made hard-core, the sex as presented is a mere tease. That being sad it is very hot, and explores the plasticity of our sexuality.

To me it was one of the happiest endings in film.

God please, please free America of censorship! As had been noted in an earlier comment this film is now, apparently, unavailable.

I have said repeatedly on this wonderful website, that trash is always available, EVERYWHERE, but seriously crafted films are usually out of print.

Who said it? The public loves trash. I do blame the distributorship and the major chains for allowing this problem to fester.

BTW this IS a woman's picture, LOL.

great early 80s erotically charged film *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

[michellelocke007 · 8/10 · 9 September 2010]

just bought this film through my local video store. it was the titular cover shot that piqued my interest so i went out on a limb and purchased it not knowing what the film was actually about. pleasantly surprised by how well done it was, the cinematography that is. beautifully shot on location in Thailand and really showing the exotic and local scenery of the country and its inhabitants. a rather peculiar and unusual start to the film where the heroine joy seems bored of her rich, glamorous and famous existence as she goes through the motions of a photo shoot. she longs and pines for her boyfriend marc who turns out be a jerk with a cheating heart who only exists in her life when he wants something and quickly exits hers when she needs him. she winds up as the companion of an older gentleman by the name of bruce whose only wish is to see her happy and will do anything to please her. he ends up whisking her away to Thailand at her request only to use her in a series of orgies as he watches on. there is also a creepy looking prince who seems to be do bruce's every bidding including spying on joy as she dresses and undresses and follows her around the estate. after escaping from bruce's obsessive clutches, joy takes off and later meets a young and vibrant tour guide by the name of joan. the two then embark on a passionate affair that later gets into some strange situations. that said, i won't go into further details that could spill the rest of the storyline though there isn't much of one to tell. brigitte lahaie who used to be a early 70s hardcore performer gives a mediocre performance. my only problem with her is that she lacks any real emotional depth of her character and appears expressionless or as one reviewer said 'like a deer caught in headlights'. one never knows how she is truly feeling or the pain and loneliness of her existence. while she is absolutely gorgeous to look at, in all her naked glory...that about sums it up for her role. i did however, thoroughly enjoy watching the many sex scenes and believe me, there were plenty of it and the cameras did not shy away from the different angles. both lead actresses lahaie and isabelle solar are great to look at and watch in full action. the scenes were tastefully done and nothing too graphic or explicit that would offend the average viewer. a film that is fun and playful but nothing that would be called cinematic or show-stopping...just something to do and watch if you're bored and looking for a bit of a sex romp from the 80s.