The Beast/Review 2

The plot revolves around the wedding of Lucy Broadhurst (Lisbeth Hummel) and Mathurin de l'Esperance (Pierre Benedetti), Lucy has fallen in love with Mathurin through the love letters he has been sending and Mathurin basically does what ever he's told by his father Pierre (Guy Tréjan). We soon see that Pierre himself has been corresponding on behalf of his illiterate son and has been manipulating the relationship in order to adhere to the stipulations made in the will of the late Philip Andrew Broadhurst so that he may restore the château and the family to their rightful social position. Pierre is also in ongoing conflict with the wheelchair bound Duc Rammendelo De Balo (Marcel Dalio) and blackmails Rammendelo that he must arrange for the wedding to be performed by Rammendelo's brother Cardinal Joseph de Balo , a further stipulation of the will.

Mathurin is called away from his horse breeding by his father to be shaved for his baptism -further will stipulations- which until this stage had not been preformed due to some strange circumstance. The baptism is performed under the eye of the local Priest Cures (Roland Armontel)and his entourage of young boys, Theodore and Modeste.

When Lucy arrives at the château she is greeted with the sight of Mathurin in the process of mating his prized horses, Lucy collects Polaroids of the horses and other phallic object she finds around the estate. This activity is meet with disapproval of Virginia Broadhurst (Elisabeth Kaza ), Lucy's aunt and chaperon.

Beside the unsettling opening scenes graphically displaying Equidae mating rituals the film does fall into a slow pace that without the amusing sub-plot of Clarisse De l'Esperance and Ifany the château's surviving staff member, attempting to reach climax, the film would lose my attention... Until Lucy is left alone in her room and she begins to pleasure herself over her aforementioned Polaroids, love letters and a rose.

I haven't seen many instances of sexe avec un bouton de rose but I have to admit it got my attention. This act leads into flash back scenes that you will never forget and the reason this film has the debatable reputation it has.

We see Romilda de l'Esperance (Sirpa Lane) 200 years previous thumping out tunes on her harpsichord, when out of the conservatory window she notices that her pet lamb has run off into the near by woods. Romilda follows the lamb deeper into the wood until after a few blood curdling roars she finds her beloved lamb slaughtered and there before her stands The Beast.

Now many have debated the Beast's origins and commented on its rat/bear like qualities but all I can enter in this discussion is I have always admired it -Technologically- from it's pointy little nose its little claw fingers, it's scruffy brown fur and it's gigantic fully functioning penis.

Romilda runs from the Beast, with every stumbling step another piece of her elaborate period attire finds it's way caught on a twig or torn away by the soft grass below and eventually the Beast catches her nude but for her corset up a tree where it proceeds to perform cunnilingus on a flailing Romilda and he receives a rather undeserved foot job. After finishing itself with Romilda's wig it proceeds to take her from behind in a the middle of an idyllic grassy clearing. After a brief moment of struggling Romilda begins to enjoy the Bestial interaction, so much so that she ends up bringing the Beast to an orgasm that literally takes his breath away, she then buries him in a pill of leaves.

I don't remember much after this point except for the very final scene that I wont spoil for you, the scene with Romilda and the Beast have stuck in my mind to this very day, I always thought that the Beast moment of ejaculation was quiet a lengthy one until I watched this film with thirty unsuspecting patrons halfway through a film 12hr movie marathon, after that experience I would say that it is one of the longest ejaculation scenes in any film ever! This film has received it's share of criticism over the years, but I truly love this film I feel that Borowczyk really did create an original adult fairytale, and some rather unique erotic moments. It may not be Shakespearean but it's worth some serious attention. -- Reviewed by Collector's Edition

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