I can imagine the sequence of events. Kevin Kline as 35 when, on a lark, he went to see a movie called "Paradise." He was mesmerized, he could hardly believe what he saw, a nubile and beautiful teenage Phoebe Cates, and he decided right there, "If I ever get the chance to meet her I'm going to marry her." And he did, they have been married since 1989 and seem great together.
I can see only one reason this movie was made - to showcase Phoebe Cates beauty, and it does that. As the movie progresses she goes from full British Victorian neck to ground dress, to skimpy dress, to shorts and halter top, to completely nude. And the nudity isn't fleeting, they film extended scenes of her taking a natural shower in waterfall in a cave, of her bathing in a pool, of her wading out into the sea, and underwater of her swimming, all without a stitch of clothes.
Kevin Kline, I must congratulate you, for having made an excellent choice.
I feel sure this movie was made to ride on the popularity of "Blue Lagoon" that came out in 1980. In that movie the children are stranded on an island after a shipwreck. In this one, set in 1823 Baghdad, Phoebe Cates as Sarah is traveling with a guardian, on the road to Damascus, but in a market they encounter an Arab who deals in white slavery, and he wants to buy Sarah. Being turned down, later he stages a raid but Sarah manages to escape down a well that leads to an underground haven.
Escaping with her is a young friend she had made, Willie Aames as David. After the guardian dies, they find themselves all alone, in the desert. The rest of the movie is their survival and return to some civilization. There is a climactic scene in the desert near the end when the Arab finds them and David has to defeat him to protect Sarah.
So most of the middle is of the two youngsters in various states of undress and discovering love and pregnancy, not too different from "The Blue Lagoon", except for the setting. Phoebe Cates was probably 17, maybe just 18, during filming so the scenes are pretty daring for the early 1980s. The story is very trite but the cinematography makes it worthwhile.
Can you believe Phoebe Cates just turned 50 a few days ago? She is still beautiful.
I can see only one reason this movie was made - to showcase Phoebe Cates beauty, and it does that. As the movie progresses she goes from full British Victorian neck to ground dress, to skimpy dress, to shorts and halter top, to completely nude. And the nudity isn't fleeting, they film extended scenes of her taking a natural shower in waterfall in a cave, of her bathing in a pool, of her wading out into the sea, and underwater of her swimming, all without a stitch of clothes.
Kevin Kline, I must congratulate you, for having made an excellent choice.
I feel sure this movie was made to ride on the popularity of "Blue Lagoon" that came out in 1980. In that movie the children are stranded on an island after a shipwreck. In this one, set in 1823 Baghdad, Phoebe Cates as Sarah is traveling with a guardian, on the road to Damascus, but in a market they encounter an Arab who deals in white slavery, and he wants to buy Sarah. Being turned down, later he stages a raid but Sarah manages to escape down a well that leads to an underground haven.
Escaping with her is a young friend she had made, Willie Aames as David. After the guardian dies, they find themselves all alone, in the desert. The rest of the movie is their survival and return to some civilization. There is a climactic scene in the desert near the end when the Arab finds them and David has to defeat him to protect Sarah.
So most of the middle is of the two youngsters in various states of undress and discovering love and pregnancy, not too different from "The Blue Lagoon", except for the setting. Phoebe Cates was probably 17, maybe just 18, during filming so the scenes are pretty daring for the early 1980s. The story is very trite but the cinematography makes it worthwhile.
Can you believe Phoebe Cates just turned 50 a few days ago? She is still beautiful.