Taglines: The United States Supreme Court Has Ruled That “Carnal Knowledge” Is Not Obscene. See It Now!
Carnal Knowledge movie storyline. The concurrent sexual lives of best friends Jonathan and Sandy are presented, those lives which are affected by the sexual mores of the time and their own temperament, especially in relation to the respective women who end up in their lives. Their story begins in the late 1940s when they are roommates attending Amherst College together. Both virgins, they discuss the type of woman they would each like to end up with.
Sandy, the more sensitive of the two, meets Susan at a mixer, she who he believes is going to be the one to who he will lose his virginity. Sandy goes through the process methodically, taking into account what he thinks Susan wants, but without much true passion or romance. Jonathan, the more sexually aggressive of the two, ends up losing his virginity first to “Myrtle”, who ends up being a steady but hidden girlfriend. Based on what each knows of the other’s relationship, both Jonathan and Sandy strive for a little more of what the other has.
These relationships also set the tone for all the relationships they will have in the future. Through their lives, they always seem not totally satisfied with their relationship at the time, still pining for what the other has. This view may change as they and their friendship hits middle age, when Sandy is with a domineering woman named Cindy, while Jonathan is with model/actress Bobbie, whose life goes spiraling downward because of her relationship to Jonathan and despite her beauty which on the surface offered so much opportunity for her. Jonathan’s sexual trajectory, directed through these experiences, ends up in a manner he probably did not foresee happening.
Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Carnal Knowledge is a 1971 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Jules Feiffer. It stars Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, Art Garfunkel, Rita Moreno, Cynthia O’Neal, and Carol Kane.
Directed by: Mike Nichols
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, Ann-Margret, Art Garfunkel, Rita Moreno, Cynthia O’Neal, Carol Kane
Screenplay by: Jules Feiffer
Production Design by: Richard Sylbert
Cinematography by: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editing by: Sam O’Steen
Costume Design by: Anthea Sylbert
Set Decoration by: George R. Nelson
Art Direction by: Robert Luthardt
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: AVCO Embassy Pictures
Release Date: June 30, 1971
Views: 380