BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE

I was a little surprised to learn that this film picked up some Oscar nominations, for a couple of reasons.

Although by 1969 the sexual revolution was well under way I would have thought that the rather conservative Academy might have been put off by the explicit way in which sexual relations both inside and outside marriage are discussed here.  Not to mention the idea of partner-swapping.  And I would guess that this was the first mainstream picture in which the word 'vagina' is uttered.

And then there's the fact that this film is rather difficult to pigeonhole.  Although labelled as a comedy I can't say that I found it laughoutloud funny, maybe because I felt uncomfortable throughout as to where it might be leading.

It is undoubtedly the case that the cowriter and director Paul Mazursky is aiming for some satire and social commentary rather than simple laughs.

In particular his target is the couple of Bob and Carol (played by Robert Culp and Natalie Wood) who after a weekend at a retreat are very big on honesty and expressing one's feelings.

This leads Bob to confess to Carol that he had a one-night stand on a business trip. Rather to his surprise (and mine) she is not angry or upset (after all it was just a physical act, no love involved).

However when Carol shares this information with their friends Ted and Alice (Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon) they are not so chill about it. Ted is probably a bit envious of Bob, while Dyan is outraged at Bob's behaviour.  Alice disapproves of extramarital sex, isn't into getting high on drugs, and is having therapy sessions in which she can dissect her feelings towards Ted.

It's a big surprise therefore when at the film's conclusion it is Alice who suggests that the four of them should 'have an orgy' and she is the one who first starts undressing.

As per the famous poster they end up in bed together, but before anything much happens they think better of it. The film ends with a somewhat surreal scene set to the Bacharach-David song "What the World Needs Now Is Love".

Gould and Cannon got Oscar nominations although all four actors were equally fine, Natalie Wood being a luminous presence throughout to my mind.

It's a strangely structured film, with some prolonged scenes, and not much in the way of a story arc, but fascinating in all kinds of ways.