Frank & Eva

Dating from 1973, the second of Surinamese-Dutch writer-director Pim de la Parra’s so-called artsploitation films now seems more intriguing than shocking. Although it contains some nudity and—for its time—fairly explicit sex scenes, Frank & Eva is essentially a portrait of an inveterate womanizer named Frank (Hugo Metsers) who repeatedly cheats on his long-suffering girlfriend Eva (Willeke van Ammelrooy). She tolerates his wild misbehavior until she informs Frank that she is pregnant, and the latter—claiming that she is trying to trick him into embracing the kind of family life he has always avoided—angrily abandons her to move in permanently with a younger woman (Sylvia Kristel) he has been sleeping with on the side. In response Eva takes up with their mutual friend, a more stable guy who has nonetheless long been Frank’s pal and enabler. Acting as the voice of experience is Max (Lex Goudsmit), an elderly, ailing bon vivant who ruminates about past mistakes and warns Frank that he too could wind up alone and regretful. So while the overall plot accounts for the film’s reputation as a freewheeling sex romp, it also ultimately serves—despite its cynical sense of humor (as, for example, in Frank’s periodic phony suicide attempts)—as a cautionary tale about the cheekily rule-breaking conduct that it appears to celebrate. Extras include audio commentary by the director, a featurette on sex in Dutch cinema, and photo galleries. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)