The canon of 19th Century Classic Literature isn't exactly peppered with luxurious bubble baths, leering old lechers, Victorian repression or midnight trysts between the hired help. Perhaps modern society would rather remember the pre-industrial age as a bodice-ripping adventure instead of a disease-laden cesspool —it makes better copy; and while we're on the same line of logic, better films, too.

Such is the case with Secrets Of Love, a French import consisting of two erotic shorts loosely based on the moral fables of Anton Chekov and guy De Maupassant. In "Secrets," the subtle bon mot and the pointed social irony goes way of the horse and buggy in favor of lavishly mounted voyeuristic fantasies..

One such scenario presents a sweat-drenched baker provocatively kneading raw sourdough as a horny chambermaid with a fluttering milk-white bosom watches with rapt desire. Later that night, as the youngsters ignite in a greenhouse, the stodgy old couple who own the estate rekindle the dying embers of their own sexuality by spying on the proceedings.

The result is more jerk-ov than Chekov, but (frequent) full frontal nudity and lush production values will please erotica connoisseurs and liberal-minded history professors alike. We can't wait until they tackle Dickens!