Marquis de Sade's Justine [Blu-ray + DVD + CD Combo] [Region Free] [NTSC]

GREAT PRODUCTION, ESPECIALLY THE PICTURE QUALITY - OBVIOUSLY MANUFACTURED FROM THE ORIGINAL 35MM NEGATIVE.ACTING QUITE SUPERB - TOO MANY FREAKY SCENES ....BUT ACCEPTABLE WITH MR. JACK PALANCE AS STAR!!

In the same way that some people feel the need to warn others from viewing explicit material, I feel it my duty to warn others of the absolute flaccid impotency of this film. Reading the radical feminist Andrea Dworkin’s scathing critique of De Sade is more passionate, more arousing, and more graphic than this lame, confused and essentially frustrating piece.The degree to which the heroine exhibits wood would put the Marquise (who ‘climaxed’ 6,000 times in three years of imprisonment) to shame. Her acting is naïve and there is no development of the aware masochist in Justine that is the point of the story. In the literature, this works in contrast to her sister Juliette’s discovery of her Sadistic nature. In the film they are both pretty but pathetic, and utterly conventional in motive and act. It says nothing new or dramatic about the deep and controversial issues of the S&M dichotomy.The male characters far from displaying signs of sadism / masochism, and control freakery, are seemingly intentionally just mildy laughable and strange. In the same fashion that Justine never really convinces one of suffering, the cruelty of her persecutors is never convincingly portrayed.The wrath of the monks Justine finds herself captive off, and indeed the ‘ordeal’ she undergoes throughout is no worse than a night out in most British cities; laughed at by whores, a mugged in broad daylight, a little chase, a bit of a slap, banged up in a cell for no good reason.As to mise en scene, there is little nudity, no graphic sex, no lesbian or gay sex, no actual shots of S&M, and the effects are so completely unrealistic as to provoke the breaking of suspension of disbelief that cinema needs in order to convince the viewer.If you want something depraved, intelligent and transcendent of moral value read the book. If you want to waste money on a film that doesn’t deserve a slot on late night channel five, buy the film.

One of Jess Franco's better movies that includes some beautifully filmed scenes. The DVD is produced by Anchor Bay and the print quality is excellent. The cast includes Jack Palance who gives a bizarre performance as a sadistic monk. The main character is played by Romina Power, and although her acting ability isn't great, she does look fantastic. Klaus Kinski plays the Marquis des Sade who visualises Justine's story from his prison cell. The story is about two orphaned girls, one wayward and the other, Justine, who is innocent and virginal. Whilst only good things happen to the wayward sister, poor Justine suffers attempted rape, spanking, imprisonment, branding, bondage and torture! Despite the subject matter the violence and sex in this film is fairly mild by today's standards. This film won't be to everyone's taste but if you are looking for something a little different and of an erotic nature then it is certainly worth viewing.

I'm afraid this hasn't stood the test of time. The narrative is jerky, stagey and unconvincing. The music is overdone and intrusive. The dialogue is very poor and I pity the poor actors who are struggling with it. It would always be a difficult task to interpret the Marquis de Sade's work for a modern audience, but this utterly fails to do it. Even Jack Palance can't rescue it, though it is interesting to see him struggling with all the melodrama

Weird, too weird really, not at all what I was expecting, a really freaky mixed up video. Unless you are a particular fan of this type of work, I would not recommend it.

RUBBISH MINUS 200

I watched this film with an open mind. The cover and the name Marquis de Sade implied an erotic journey full of depraved images and nudity. What I saw was some incredibly wooden acting, a little nudity but nothing that could be called sexy. I haven't read the book and I imagine that it is vastly more exciting.In fact I have given the film 2 stars on the basis that some of the scenes where filmed in Gaudi buildings in Spain, which was fascinating. Also the interview with Jess Franco who description of the filming was wonderful, as he explained that Klaus Kinski's contribution was filmed in half a day and intercut in the film. It was also interesting to hear that Jack Palance was drunk most of the time during the filming, which goes to explain his strange and pathetic acting during the film. In fact it was so bad in parts that I thought that I was watching 'Carry On Justine'.I read that 30 minutes was cut from the original film and this has been restored and whilst it was produced in 1969, I can't see anything that would upset anyone in this version as erotic it certainly isn't.I should add that the lead actress Romina Power (18 year old Daughter or Tyrone Power) is very pretty but act she can't, I have seen more emotion in my dinning room table.So if you decide to buy this DVD watch the extras and look out for the Gaudi buildings, which are amazing.

good