La Bête (The Beast)
February 6th 2008 04:26
In the case of La Bête (1975) a French forest-and-mansion-bound phantasy of the most beastly indulgences, the late Polish director Walerian Borowczyk’s ludicrous tale is somewhere in between; a netherworld of turgid dressing room dramatics and animalistic lust and desire bordering on the macabre.
French aristocracy
Lucy Broadhurst (Elizabeth Hummel) dreams of something a little more rustic
Sirpa Lane as Countess Romilda
Whilst she explores the estate Lucy discovers a secret family history and later dreams of musical fancies, in particular the pretty countess Romilda (Sirpa Lane) abandoning her harpsichord to find a lost wee lamb, then being stalked by a large sexually-ravenous beast that first skins the lamb, then lusts after Romilda herself. Much later Lucy comes to realise that the man she is to marry might very well be the beast of her (naughty) dreams himself. Oh, the humanity!
The Countess sans dress and her hairy suitor
The Countess is falls under the beast's charm
The Beast is released
Aunt Virginia Broadhurst (Elizabeth Kaza) beastly speculations are correct
But in all honesty The Beast is not a good film. A strange and peculiar curiosity, oh yes. A satirical dream of animal ravishing, and amusing inter-racial (and inter-species) couplings, that suggests – like only a male European director of the 70s can – that women fantasise about being raped by bear-like beasts with enormous leaking erections until eventually the animal expires and the woman escapes with barely a scratch upon her alabaster thigh.
Yes, this movie is now available at your local Blockbuster. But, trust me, you’ve be warned! If you die of laughter, that’s not so bad I guess … But really, it’s not that funny, it’s incredibly silly, and tedious when it’s not.
The beast in all his glory with Countess Romilda astride
Here's the original theatrical trailer in all its perverse oddity:
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
I see endless sessions of therapy to get over it.
I shall take you advice and pass it up.
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Michaelie
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Your post brings back memories... I think I've seen Immoral Tales when I was quite young! Did it have a short about a young woman that gets seduced by the devil?
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Michaelie, "strangely disappointed", yes, I quite agree, that's kind of what I felt. The production values in some areas are excellent, the location shooting, production design, the mood control, Borowczyk is certainly a talented director, although this is not his best work. I think the satrical edge was blunted by the movie's structure and intent (ie the less than compelling story around the original set-piece). His Immoral Tales is a more accomplished film (and more erotic). However his dark, perverse take on the Jekyll and Hyde story (Dr. Jekyll and his Women, 1981) is the movie I'm very much looking foward to watching; a very hard film to find, very controversial, and I found a copy, which I'll review in weeks to come ...
Cibby, of course you would ... Not sure about the woman being seduced by the devil, but SBS has no doubt played it. Four stories including one where a young woman locked in her bedroom enjoys the delights of a large cucumber!! And one which stars Pablo Picasso's daughter Paloma as the infamous Elizabeth Bathory ...
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
You know I'm going to find it though.
I'm almost certain that I've seen the part about Elizabeth Bathory, though.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Ryan T.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
the difference in running time is actually to do with the PAL vs. NTSC variable. NZ runs on the PAL system, which means running time is slightly longer.
Comment by Ryan T.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
American VCR and DVD players operate on a different frames per second rate. The US system is called NTSC, the version which we have in Australia (and also in the UK) is known as PAL. They are not mutually compatible. Thus NTSC has a shorter running time, even though the movie itself has not been edited. Hope that makes sense.
Comment by Ryan T.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile