Pretty Peaches

Martin Oaks

2025-10-14T07:07:08Z

**From Voltaire to satirical eroticism: The odyssey of Peaches** I find it difficult to confirm that "Pretty Peaches" was the favorite film of its creator, filmmaker Alex De Renzy. Especially since his most notable works include such significant films as "Femmes de Sade" (1976), "Babyface" (1977), and "Wild Things" (1985). Although the movie features a heavy dose of "buddy humor" and wild sex, it is equally true that Desiree Cousteau's dazzling voluptuousness is occasionally eclipsed by dramatic overacting, particularly toward the end of the film. The plot is based on Voltaire's literary classic "Candide: or, The Optimist" ("Candide, ou l'Optimisme", 1759), which tells the story of a naive young man manipulated by everyone. This story gained widespread fame thanks to Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg's bold adaptation titled "Candy"—a satirical novel that parodies Voltaire's "Candide" through a naive young woman caught up in absurd sexual situations within the late-sixties hippie scene. In this version, Peaches is a naive and kind-hearted young woman from San Francisco who arrives in a California town to attend her father's (John Leslie) second wedding to Lily (nicknamed "Flower" for her ebony skin). The daughter's jealousy over her father's love drives her to get drunk and abruptly flee, speeding off in her Jeep Golden Eagle. She then crashes in the desert, which causes her to suffer trauma-induced amnesia. Shortly after, two friends near the accident scene, Kid and Terry (Joey Silvera and Ken Scudder, respectively)—a pair of lazy grifters with more testosterone than skill—decide to take advantage of Peaches, exploiting her vulnerability and her subsequent inability to remember her past.