The Beast = La Bete [DVD] (E)

Banned for many years, this erotic re-working of the “Beauty and the Beast” fairytale by Polish director Walerian Borowczyk is a bizarre mix of melodrama, horror, farce, satire, porn and broad humour. On the eve of her wedding, an American heiress, betrothed to the mentally unstable heir of a French aristocratic dynasty, is beset by sexual fantasies about a rapacious beast. Her imagination is triggered by rumours she hears that such a lustful beast lived in the grounds of the estate in the 18th century, and copulated with the beautiful young lady of the house. Borowczyk’s all out assault on social conventions and repressed desires can be seen as signposting both the peak of his sexual fables (Blanche, Immoral Tales), and his subsequent decline into soft porn. Contains graphic sexual imagery. Cast: Sirpa Lane, Lisbeth Hummel, Elisabeth Kahson, Pierre Benedetti, Marcel Dalio. In French with English subtitles.