I haven't liked what I've seen of Cocteau so far, but I loved his writing in this and Melville handled it well.

um...I've certainly never seen such an artsy form of melodrama, so that's something in its favor. I guess.

Visually arresting and surprisingly fast-paced, this film develops a brother-sister relationship that is endlessly complex. I just couldn't get over how annoying and generally uninteresting Nicole Stéphane and Edouard Dermithe were as the two leads. (In other news, the Philip Glass opera based on this is FANTASTIC)

Very nice looking movie about bugshit-crazy incestuous desire. Both the the brother and sister and the idiot friends who indulge them are completely unrelated to anything remotely human.

Powerful. Flawed, maybe, ...but very powerful.

#894

74.750

Cocteau's stamp seems more prevalent than Melville's, resulting in a melodrama less methodical and more literary. That's okay, though. These characters are brutal. It's a ruthless battle of wills, and I just lapped it up. There are also interesting undercurrents of taboo eroticism, including hints of incest and homosexuality.

A bit too French, when you get right down to it. The characters are insufferable and the screenplay feels clumsy, but the cinematography is attractive, and some shots are just pure visual poetry. Not one of Melville's best, but further establishes Melville as a solid stylist.

833

# 888

Directed by Melville, but it's got Cocteau's stamp all over it. His voice is unmistakable... both his literary voice (he wrote the novel) and his actual voice (he performs the narration). It even looks like a Cocteau film. I'm rather indifferent to Cocteau (I'm not even sure if I like La Belle et la Bete that much anymore) so I didn't get much out of it. I can't point to any particular flaws, but I didn't connect with it on any level. All I can say is: eh, it was okay.

There's a lot to like in this: the good music, the nice cinematography, the solid acting and the story's creepy surreal nature. As good as the elements are, though, they just didn't create an appealing film. I never cared for the main characters and I couldn't find anything meaningful to get me involved. It was interesting, but left me feeling unfulfilled.

I liked the set design.

I guess I expected the style here to be more like typical Melville. It's still absolutely out of this world stylish, but wasn't what I expected. Unfortunately, other than the style there's not a lot here. Very dramatic story, but the actors weren't getting me to buy it.

This is a different style for Melville, for sure. I couldn't help but feel a distinct disconnect with the whole cast throughout the movie. It felt lifeless and the chemistry between all of them was virtually nonexistant. The story and writing was fine enough, but the real star of the movie was clearly Melville's direction and the music choice to really hammer away at the audience. It may not be great as many of Melville's movies are, but it's surely decent and an interesting watch.

Discreet, intense, fascinating....

Energetic, curious, neurotic and feverish (there are moments here clearly resembling a dream/nightmare). It reminded me somehow of Greenaway in its somewhat stilted lyricism and formal bravura - although this is far more "throbbing" than what I've seen by him (and maybe I'm just crazy comparing the two). Fascinating if not completely arresting.

786

It's a very interesting movie, at the least; very memorable sets, a nice musical score, an intriguing story, twisted relationships, and so on. The acting is a bit melodramatic and leaves something to be desired, but the movie is very much a stylistic triumph. I'm not sure how compelling it is as a whole, but I very much enjoyed it. It's a well-made movie in all regards and it's very unique. The more surreal, dreamlike sequences were fantastic; a lack of narration would've enhanced this.