The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak
Encyclopedia
The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak (original title Gwendoline) is a French action
/sexploitation film
released in 1984, directed
by Just Jaeckin
. Gwendoline (Tawny Kitaen
), accompanied by a soldier of fortune, Willard (Brent Huff
), and her French maid (Zabou
), journeys deep into the jungle
and desert
to capture a butterfly
that has eluded her late father's scientific quest. They eventually discover the lost underground realm of the Yik-Yak, an all-female society ruled by a queen who plans to kill Willard after he mates with a female gladiator champion.
The film is loosely based on the bondage
-themed comics
of John Willie
and on the figure of Gwendoline
. François Schuiten
worked as a graphic designer for the movie.
Severin Films
has re-released the 88 minute U.S. release of The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak and released a 106 minute Gwendoline: Unrated Director's Cut based on the French release.
Hired to transport an illegal cargo, Willard reluctantly agrees to take both women with him after Beth, withholding information vital to his livelihood, promises to divulge it only if he becomes their guide.
Gwendoline, who has come to China to capture the butterfly that eluded her father, who'd staked his professional reputation as a scientist on obtaining the insect, offers Willard $2000 to take her and Beth with him to the land of the Yik-Yak tribe, in which the butterfly may be found.
After escaping from a tribe of cannibals, the trio find the butterfly, but, as she is about to capture it, Beth is captured by the Yik-Yak, and Gwendoline and Willard must enter the all-women tribe's underground lair to rescue the maid.
To ensure the survival of her tribe, the Yik-Yak's queen allows a victor among them to mate with any man who visits or is captured by the tribe. Aided by Beth and the queen's henchman, who is a scientist, Gwendoline, disguised as a Yik-Yak combatant, wins this right.
As she has sex with Willard, the scientist activates the volcano inside which the Yik-Yak live, and he, the queen, and others of the tribe are killed as Gwendoline, Beth, and Willard escape. In the process, Willard is able to capture the elusive butterfly.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
/sexploitation film
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
released in 1984, directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Just Jaeckin
Just Jaeckin
Just Jaeckin is a French film director.-Life:He was born in Vichy France during the Nazi Occupation, but left with his mother and father for England: after the war, he returned to France where he studied art and photography, much of it he did before and after serving with the French Army: while...
. Gwendoline (Tawny Kitaen
Tawny Kitaen
Julie "Tawny" Kitaen is an American actress and media personality. She became famous in the 1980s for appearing in several hard rock videos for the band Whitesnake, including the hit "Here I Go Again". Kitaen was married to Whitesnake lead singer David Coverdale from 1989–1991...
), accompanied by a soldier of fortune, Willard (Brent Huff
Brent Huff
Brent Huff is a former male model and actor, writer and film director.- Career :He studied on University of Missouri.Brent begin his career as a model after signing with Ford Models in New York and Nina Blanchard in Los Angeles...
), and her French maid (Zabou
Isabelle Breitman
Zabou Breitman born Isabelle Breitman is a French actress and director of Jewish origin, known as Zabou or Zabou Breitman. She is the daughter of actors Jean-Claude Deret and Céline Léger. At age four, she appeared in her first movie. Since 1981, Zabou has acted in dozens of roles in films, TV...
), journeys deep into the jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
and desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
to capture a butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
that has eluded her late father's scientific quest. They eventually discover the lost underground realm of the Yik-Yak, an all-female society ruled by a queen who plans to kill Willard after he mates with a female gladiator champion.
The film is loosely based on the bondage
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
-themed comics
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
of John Willie
John Willie
John Alexander Scott Coutts , better known as John Willie, was a pioneering fetish photographer, illustrator, and bondage artist.- Life and work :...
and on the figure of Gwendoline
Sweet Gwendoline
Sweet Gwendoline is the main female character in the works of bondage artist John Willie, published largely in the 1950s and 60s, and possibly the most famous bondage icon after Bettie Page...
. François Schuiten
François Schuiten
Baron François Schuiten is a Belgian comic book artist. He is best known for drawing the series Les Cités Obscures.-Biography:François Schuiten was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1956....
worked as a graphic designer for the movie.
Severin Films
Severin Films
-History:The label was created in 2006 in Los Angeles, other offices were founded in New York and London. The released films by Severin Films include: Hardware, Jesús Franco's Bloody Moon and Macumba Sexual, Walerian Borowczyk's Immortal Women, Gwendoline: Unrated Director's Cut, The Hairdresser's...
has re-released the 88 minute U.S. release of The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak and released a 106 minute Gwendoline: Unrated Director's Cut based on the French release.
Plot summary
Captured by a trio of thieves, Gwendoline is sold to a local casino owner, but, rescued by Willard, a mercenary adventurer, she is reunited with her maid, Beth, after the latter's abduction by the same thieves who had earlier kidnapped Gwendoline.Hired to transport an illegal cargo, Willard reluctantly agrees to take both women with him after Beth, withholding information vital to his livelihood, promises to divulge it only if he becomes their guide.
Gwendoline, who has come to China to capture the butterfly that eluded her father, who'd staked his professional reputation as a scientist on obtaining the insect, offers Willard $2000 to take her and Beth with him to the land of the Yik-Yak tribe, in which the butterfly may be found.
After escaping from a tribe of cannibals, the trio find the butterfly, but, as she is about to capture it, Beth is captured by the Yik-Yak, and Gwendoline and Willard must enter the all-women tribe's underground lair to rescue the maid.
To ensure the survival of her tribe, the Yik-Yak's queen allows a victor among them to mate with any man who visits or is captured by the tribe. Aided by Beth and the queen's henchman, who is a scientist, Gwendoline, disguised as a Yik-Yak combatant, wins this right.
As she has sex with Willard, the scientist activates the volcano inside which the Yik-Yak live, and he, the queen, and others of the tribe are killed as Gwendoline, Beth, and Willard escape. In the process, Willard is able to capture the elusive butterfly.
Structure
The movie follows a structure of capture and rescue or escape which complements the idea of the heroine imperiled or the damsel in distress:- Introduction
- Capture
- Rescue
- Quest
- Capture
- Escape
- Resumption of quest
- Capture
- Rescue and escape
- Conclusion