| Value for Money | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Reviewer Rating | 8/10 |
| Overall Rating | 9/10  |
Director Claude PiersonStarring: Alice Arno, Yves Arcanel
Manufacturer: Oracle Home Entertainment Limited
Features:
| Justine |  | £9.47P&P - Check site |
Full review by
Michaelab
on 7th Sep 2008
User Rating : 8
Respect :
0
Good Points: Claude Pierson's 1972 adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's infamous novel Justine, is a true classic. Changes in censorship in the late 1960's allowed Pierson to create a film which is far more faithful to de Sade's original story and is far more explicit than the 1969 Jesus Franco version. Alice Arno is a real treat in the role of Justine/Therese, she is naturally beautiful, possessing a magnificent body with one of the most perfect derri res ever to grace the silver screen. Justine's story follows her attempts to lead a virtuous life in a cruel world as she travels through 18th Century France passing from one deliciously devious and perverted character to another. It is a potentially dark tale but Pierson's skilful direction has manages to achieve a suitable level of humour which does the story no harm. The film features some excellent internal and external locations and the period costumes are good without being over the top, however Arno is rarely in costume for any length of time as seemingly every time she dresses she is never far away from someone who is only too pleased to strip her naked and further torment her. The film also features many other beautiful French women who also spend much of their time in a similar state of undress and are similarly tormented.
Bad Points: On the whole the quality of the film is good for its age, a little graininess remains but thanks to some restoration work it is really not bad. Some of the scenes which were not permitted in the original UK release are included in this version but feature the original French soundtrack and have not been dubbed into English. Apart from that, the film has been dubbed into English fairly seamlessly, but the voice used for Justine totally lacks expression and resembles an elderly spinster rather than a beautiful young woman. Naturally the original soundtrack in French features Arno's own voice, which is far more pleasing. The film though, does tend to lack balance in as much as some of the scenes appear hurried whereas others are too drawn out. In particular the branding scene could have been so much better, the build-up is weak and the whole thing is over with very quickly in a clumsy and unconvincing way. In contrast, Justine's attempt to seek solace in the monastery seems to drag on far too long and becomes downright boring. Some of the outdoor scenes have been shot on rather overcast days, which may have been intentional but somehow just isn't as nice as the scenes when the sun is shining.
General comments: Justine's story follows her attempts to lead a virtuous life in a cruel world as she travels through 18th Century France passing from one perverted character to another. Justine, who for much of the film uses the alias Therese, is a magnificently beautiful yet very naive young woman. She claims to have been abandoned by her parents when just twelve years of age but just doesn't seem to realise that informing every stranger she meets that she is 'but a poor orphan girl already well acquainted with ill- fortune' is like an open invitation to let them do whatever they wish with her. Her natural beauty has doubtless provided her with a first class ticket to lead a privileged life if she were to choose that route, but her overwhelming desire to maintain her virtue leaves her totally vulnerable. Poor and kindly Justine's blinkered desire for virtue leads to her suffering one form of sexual degradation after another.
Poor Justine, why is it that sometimes the kindest people are the most annoying? As the film progresses it becomes easy to loose pity with her and to question whether she really is driven by her claims of virtue or whether she is just plain stupid. Arno does an excellent job in portraying Justine with a blank expression which gives credence to the latter, although one can perhaps forgive her for feeling safe by seeking solace in a rural monastery following her encounter with Monsieur Rodin. Once again though, Justine is to learn that she can trust anyone and the monks take little time in enrolling her into the group of beautiful female sex slaves they keep for their amusement. Even after escaping the monastery her misfortunes continue on and on.
Sitting through the near two hours of the film one cannot help but question whether Justine has any natural sexual desires, perhaps despite her magnificent looks, inside she is like some aged spinster (rather like the dubbed voice) for whom sex is a dirty word or perhaps she is just too gormless to realise that a less humble approach and doing what comes naturally could bring great reward without her losing her precious virtue.
Throughout the film it seemed that somewhere there had to be a Prince Charming to rescue this young beauty if only from herself. Once again though, Justine's judgement is called into question as she uncharacteristically confesses her overwhelming desire for the acceptably handsome, yet wicked, Count de Bressac whose own passions are directed his male companion Jasmine.
Justine de Sade is undoubtedly a film that will not appeal to all and perhaps its main strengths are its uniqueness and the period it was made. It really is not a film to be taken too seriously despite the dubious moral/immoral intentions of de Sade's original work and is probably too soft core for the serious devotee of the genre. I would though, recommend it as a saucy tale to stir your fantasies featuring numerous lovely naked women with beautiful bums (Arno's especially!) and a host of delightfully wicked characters who would put the worst pantomime villains to shame. It's definitely worth a viewing!
Michaelab's review and ratings | 959 words
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