Nearing the end of the ICM poll for the best films of 1969,I decided it was time to look at one of the credits from that year of auteur Uncle Jess Franco. Speaking a few years ago to fellow IMDber melvelvit-1 after seeing the operatic excess of Roger Vadim's fun Vice and Virtue (1963-also reviewed),I was told that Jess had done his own version of the story. Standing out on his credits for '69,I decided it was time to at last meet Justine and Juliet.
View on the film:
Made during his Harry Alan Towers era, director Jess Franco works with his largest ever budget, (and longest run time?) to conjure up a sleazy kitsch historical Horror epic, with Uncle Jess and cinematographer Manuel Merino layering neon colours over the naked horrors inflicted on Justine.
Even when working with a bigger budget, ole Uncle Jess thankfully keeps his major themes intact with Bruno Nicolai's playful Jazz score actually finding (some) sense of the epic, and Jess's unique zoom-ins marking out each humiliation Justine experiences.
Producing and writing this adaptation of Marquis de Sade's novel, the screenplay by Harry Alan Towers suffers from being thinly spread over the 2 hours, with sequences where the horror hits the heart of Justine, (such a stylish exchange of poison wine and a dead dog!) that are undermined by Justine then being lost in the wilderness,with little time given to build the relationship between Juliet and Justine.
Cut-down by Uncle Jess as acting like a window dummy, Romina Power lacks the daydream daze of Jess's usual leading ladies, but makes up for it with a tempting jail bait innocence over the punishment of Justine.
View on the film:
Made during his Harry Alan Towers era, director Jess Franco works with his largest ever budget, (and longest run time?) to conjure up a sleazy kitsch historical Horror epic, with Uncle Jess and cinematographer Manuel Merino layering neon colours over the naked horrors inflicted on Justine.
Even when working with a bigger budget, ole Uncle Jess thankfully keeps his major themes intact with Bruno Nicolai's playful Jazz score actually finding (some) sense of the epic, and Jess's unique zoom-ins marking out each humiliation Justine experiences.
Producing and writing this adaptation of Marquis de Sade's novel, the screenplay by Harry Alan Towers suffers from being thinly spread over the 2 hours, with sequences where the horror hits the heart of Justine, (such a stylish exchange of poison wine and a dead dog!) that are undermined by Justine then being lost in the wilderness,with little time given to build the relationship between Juliet and Justine.
Cut-down by Uncle Jess as acting like a window dummy, Romina Power lacks the daydream daze of Jess's usual leading ladies, but makes up for it with a tempting jail bait innocence over the punishment of Justine.