The Ending

Looking For Mr. Goodbar is definitely a similar film with a similar ending... in fact, To Be Twenty may very well be an Italian reaction to L.F.M.G. [ We all know how much they loved 'borrowing' from U.$.A. cinema, heh ]. It's not *EXACTLY* the same though, so i could be wrong; it's possible the directors of both films were simply inspired with similar stories one after the other. This was a great film.

Can anyone recommend other socially conscious, hyper-brutal '60s/'70s films such as this one? I've already seen Last House On The Left, which i think is terribly overrated.

"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo

"What exactly happens at the end? What is so brutal?"

***DETAILED SPOILERS AHEAD***

What gives the ending power is the film that precedes it. For the most part, the story functions as a sexy comedy with social commentary/satire just under the surface. The movie allows the viewers to attach themselves to the female protagonists Lia and Tina, who use their bodies and female appeal to get whatever they want; it's their way of exploiting a society they feel has never shown them love, so they feel justified doing that. When the fun has ended and they're forced by authorities to return to their hometowns, they decide to buy a meal at an isolated cafeteria along the way. Tina, who is more promiscuous and not as bright as Lia, attracts the attention of a group of older Italian men by dancing to the cafeteria jukebox. One of the men approaches Lia, so she decides to dance with Tina to avoid him. This is a bad move, because the men leave their tables and force themselves on the girls. When they realize the men aren't playing around, Lia and Tina push the men off them and leave the cafeteria. After walking for a while they find a busy road, but realize too late that the cars belong to the men they escaped from. The girls are chased down, stripped naked, beaten and raped. At the very end Tina's vagina is pummeled with a thick tree branch until she dies, and Lia is killed by a fatal hit to the back of her head. The final image of the film is an overhead shot of both girls dead, set to the tune of an upbeat '70s Euro-Pop song that's playing because one of the men stepped on the girls' tape player.

Personally, other movies like I Spit On Your Grave or Night Train Murders shocked me much more than To Be Twenty, but it's still a good movie. I can understand why this film failed theatrically... the ending definitely comes out of nowhere. It's not something that someone who payed to watch a light-hearted sexploitation movie would want to see, heh...

"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo

LOL, the end of this thing is a cheezy, brief bit of brutality the notion of which is to suggest that the girls' irresponsible attitudes are to blame for their fate.

They shot the finger at the wrong guys in the wrong situation with impertinence and paid the price for it.

None of the film is particularly graphic, neither the sex scenes nor the brutal end -- there is a significant amount of bare flesh in it, however -- both girls are admittedly pretty, young, and hot.

Wow. You are pathetic.

eye roll

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"Love means never having to say you're ugly." - the Abominable Dr. Phibes

Twat :)

[deleted]

Uhhhh... Are you seriously condoning the rape and murder of two young girls? You're disgusting.

Beautiful film that isn't afraid to assert rightful male power of feminine lunacy and weakness.