Walerian Borowczyk
and “La Bete” (The Beast)
Walerian Borowczyk was
born in 1923 in
At the same time Borowczyk
was not just a humourous filmmaker, like many
surrealists he was shocked and disgusted by the world around him and the
hypocrisy of the prevailing society and hence used film as a means to lampoon
its pretensions. In Les Jeux des Anges
(1964), for example, he introduces us to a vision of hell on earth which
focuses on a macabre trip to a prison
camp where angels of death gun down and slice up corpses, all accompanied by a
soundtrack of ecclesiastical music.
In 1968 Borowczyk
moved into life action film with Goto, the
From one of these battles escapes Grozo, a petty criminal by all accounts, who is saved by
the wife of the island’s ruler, but she has ulterior motives, she wishes to
escape the Island and its dictator, her husband. She installs Grozo as the dog catcher of the island, but he owes her. As
she works of manipulate those around her, she conducts an affair with a
handsome riding instructor, and the two plan to escape from the island by boat.
Nevertheless, their plans are to be disrupted by Grozo’s
desire for power and his lust for Glossia and in the
end she must submit to Grozo who not only becomes the
new Goto but takes her as his prize. The film is a
bleak portrayal of sex and power and is a powerful first film from Borowczyk which won much acclaim.
In his next film, the 1971 classic
Blanche, he explores the story of a nobleman who shuts his wife up in a castle
tower; again it is a powerfully evocative film and his ability to create the
look and feel of the 13th century is remarkable. These first two
films illustrated his ability to create incredible environments with texture
and colour which are not only evocative but emotion
filled. In these films it becomes clear that the settings, environment, even
furniture are as much part of the story as the acting and the plot. The look of
his film, his own unique editing style and his emphasis on the environment and
texture of his films became his trademarks.
While his early films were well received
and the excesses of his animations seen as mere eccentricity, his exploration
of sexuality in its diverse presentations shocked many viewers, though they
still flocked to watch them! It began with the 1974 issue of Immortal Tales.
Immoral tales was comprised of four short films which explore sexuality and deviation
using various historical periods as a backdrop. They are beautifully presented
but have what could be considered fairly shocking content presented in a frank
and matter of fact manner.
Subjects like fellatio, masturbation,
incest, pain and pleasure (BDSM) and sex are death are given historical
settings and portrayed in amazing tableaux’s comprising perfectly created set
pieces using a wide range of items which all take on special signifiance,
ranging from a wooden doll to a cucumber, erotic art to religious figures. His
portrayal of the human condition is strongly Freudian, suppressed sexuality
governed by religion and ritual, explodes as a force which cannot be controlled
and manifests in a myriad of forms, some more benign than others.
This was followed in 1975 by La Bête (The
Beast), which was seen by Borowczyk as the fifth
segment of the Immoral Tales and is certainly his most controversial film. It
is an amazingly bizarre fairy tale, but in the original sense of the term.
Today we see fairy tales as nice little stories to tell our children, harmless
fantasies of elves, fairies and distant lands. However, they were not always so
benign. For example, in 1845 Struwwelpeter was a hugely
popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprised ten illustrated
and rhymed stories. Each had a clear message that demonstrated the disastrous
consequences of bad behavior in a highly extreme and in many cases violent way.
It was used by parents to threaten their children with the end that befalls
those who do not do what they are told. These are not nice tales, thumbs are
sheared off, eyes fall out of sockets, faces are pecked to death and bodies
waste to nothing! Other tales of the Medieval period
explored sexuality and violent in a variety of mythic forms, in many ways The
Beast mixes together these genres and creates a sexually charged adult fairy
tale.
In this quite beautiful yet shocking
story, the Marquis de l’Esperance to safeguard his
estate and family lineage arranges a marriage between his son, Mathurin, and an English heiress, Lucy Broadhurst. Whilst the Marquis is putting pressure,
unsuccessfully, on the Duc De Balo,
to get his brother the cardinal to attend the wedding mass, Lucy arrives with
her aunt. Meanwhile, a priest is seeing
to Mathurin’s baptism. The family is not what it
seems, the priest has an unhealthy interest in young boys, the family and
indeed Lucy have strange obsessions including one about horses having sex. The
whole film explores the madness and dysfunction of a suppressed sexually out of
touch family with all manner of hidden secrets, blackmail, strange liaisons and
much besides.
As the story continues and they wait for
the cardinal, Lucy discovers the story of a young woman who was raped by a wild
beast, in the grounds of the château, 200 years ago and this leads to the
film's most startling sequence. An extended flashback which
offers an adult retelling of the Beauty and the Beast myth. In this version, the beast, a man in a rather
obvious bear costume chases a beautiful young maiden naked except for a corset
through the forest before confronting her with a large phallus of monstrous
proportions and having his way with her in various positions. This sequence is extremely explicit and will
certainly confront those not ready for it. On many levels it has a humorous and
amusing; on the other hand you certainly have to have a certain dark sense of humour, this is a pretty over the top cinematic experience,
not one matched in any other film, surrealist or serious. The fact that the
bear is obviously a man in a suite has obvious psychological meaning (man is
just another animal) and the inherent violence underneath is humour is unsettling to say the least.
At the same time this is a beautifully
produced surreal story which has much in common I am sure with true Medieval stories and tales which would have abounded in the
countryside, it explores themes of family dysfunction, sexual desire, love and
death in a way which is quite unique.
This edition from Umbrella Entertainment
is in a word, delectable!! It is a directors cut, beautifully clear with a
clarity of sound which is astounding, considering this is an older cult film;
it is amazing to see such a superb edition available. The colours are
breathtaking and it really shows off the cinematographic skills for which Borowczyk was so well regarded. In many ways this makes the
film even more bizarre, it is so perverse yet so beautifully and skillfully
produced. It is different from anything that most viewers will ever see
anywhere else.
It comes in a two DVD set, the second
disc includes a truly comprehensive documentary The Making of la Bete (105 minutes) and an interviews, biography and
gallery.
Borowczyk continued to make unusual films such as Docteur Jekyll et les Femmes in
1981 and Emmanuelle 5, in 1987, but never reached the levels of surrealism he
achieved with La Bete. In 1989 he made his last feature
Love Rites, which Adapted from a short story by André Pieyre
de Mandiargues, tells the tale of a French fashion designer Hugo Arnold
who meets a young and beautiful woman. He desires her and spends the day with
her, after some time he learns that she is a prostitute and after much talking
and stalling, they go back to her place. This may sound boring but it isn’t, Borowczyk slowly builds and builds the sexual tension, the
will she or won’t she until the final half of the film where after sex, she
turns into a creature of monstrous proportions with huge claws and attacks and
emasculates the young designer. Another strange and amazing
film from Borowczyk exploring sex and death.
Walerian Borowczyk
continued his career in the late '90s with minor work in television and died of
heart failure on February 2, 2006.
La Bête (The Beast)
Walerian
Borowczyk
Australian Release
Directors Cut
2 DVD Set
Umbrella Entertainment
Special Features:
Making of La Bête - 105min
-Interview with Walerian Borowczyk
-Walerian Borowczyk
Biography
-Stills Gallery