La Bête (La Bete/The Beast) – Director’s Cut (1975/Umbrella Entertainment REGION Zero/0 PAL
Import)
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD can only be operated on
machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0, PAL format
software, and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the
website address provided at the end of the review.
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C
Film: B
Walerian
Borowczyk La Bête (1975) is modern
fantasy that draws inspiration from the story of Beauty and the Beast is an interesting and comedic film, one that
has garnered a lot of negative criticism over the past few decades or so since
its creation. In the eyes of the general
public, the criticism it has drawn is justified, as the content can be a bit
much to handle if you’re not prepared for it when going in. There are graphic scenes of horses engaged in
intercourse with one another, but nothing beyond what a documentary into the
breeding of animals would show, and at no point does an animal engage in sexual
situations with a human, nor is it implied (forgiving the instances concerning
the beast itself, wherein a man in a comical gorilla suit with an undersized
cat-like head ravishes a woman, to her eventual delight). These scenes, of course, are the ones which
usually get stuck in the craw of more conservative audiences, and are the
reason for the film’s banishment for a length of time.
The sex
between human characters in the film is soft core, and handled delicately
enough - without actual penetration shown, and when genitalia is revealed, it
is shown only briefly. I’m not entirely
sure which movies can draw comparisons to this one, as it is in a class of its
own among other curiosities in the world of film. Strangely enough, I can detect a connection
between some of the material here and that of David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, produced a mere 5 or
6 years later. I do not imply that there
is any direct link between these films, or that Lynch had even seen this film
to draw from it, but the outcast characters embodied in the beast or in John
Merrick will naturally travel similar paths of causing revulsion and eventual
acceptance in one form or another.
Both
films use images and sounds of actual animals to drive a connection between the
worlds of man and beast into the mind of the viewer, and both deal with the
idea of bestiality - though in The
Elephant Man, this is heavily muted, except during the opening scenes of
stampeding elephants which are to suggest the rape of Merrick’s mother by the
beasts, causing his deformities. Obviously this is not the truth of the matter,
and he was born of two human parents; but the idea is seeded here, and as the
carnival barker of that film would have it, the idea is also seeded inside the
mind of Merrick.
Sadly,
there is little exposition on the beast character here, and the full-fledged
creature is only encountered in a dream sequence had by the Lucy Broadhurst
character. The “real” outcast/deformity in the film is her rather shy and
reclusive fiancée, who has gone unbaptized and so bears the mark of the beast
in a small tail that goes unrevealed until much later in the film. We don’t see much of him either, and almost
all of the exposition on him and his family is done so through them and their
servants.
The transfer
is the same as the Region 0 NTSC copy released by Cult Epics in 2004 in the
United States, and holds up well with bright colors and a detailed, although
occasionally soft image - though mostly with shots that were filmed outdoors.
The sound
is Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono and is satisfyingly rich. Sadly, for those who prefer dubbed voice-over
to subtitles, the English audio track that was supposedly included on the Cult
Epics release has been omitted here with the sole option being the original
English/French dual language track - subtitles are available in English only.
Extras
are the same as the Cult Epics release, with the exception being the omission
of the “complete version” of the film contained on the third disc of their
release. While this may seem like a poor
choice upon first notice, it really isn’t a major blow to the set. The complete
print I spoke of is a poor quality Dutch print of the film, that, while adding
a few extras minutes in length, was not the director’s final say on the picture,
and doesn’t extend any noteworthy scenes, or add anything “hardcore” as one
might think at first. There is a silent,
subtitled biography of director Walerian Borowczyk, as well as a silent 105
minute documentary compiled from 16mm documentary footage taken during the
filming. A separate 7 minute interview
with Borowczyk serves as an introduction to this documentary. In addition to these features, there is also a
stills gallery of behind the scenes photos from the filming.
Overall,
a great set created for a competent and thought-provoking film. While not to be considered a part of the
horror genre, the movie holds an interest today primarily with those seeking
exploitation pictures and other weird offshoots of the horror cannon. If you’re looking to import a copy of the
film, this is the one to go for, as the transfer for the Region 2 PAL Noveau
Pictures edition is very slightly under the bar that was set by this print,
with colors that look a tad washed out at times. More importantly, however, it does not include
any of the extra content you’ll get here.
As noted
above, you can order this import DVD exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- David
Milchick
