Le lit de la vierge

"The Virgin's Bed" is a tale of the Christ unlike any other. Pierre Clementi is a hippyish Jesus and Zouzou, she of "Love in the Afternoon", is either his mother and/or Mary Magdelene and the setting is hard to determine, but is almost certainly not 2,000 years ago and not even 1969 when the film was made but an indeterminate future. In other words this is vaguely allegorical rather than literate, a kind of home movie Passion Play shot in black and white with only a very tenuous link to the stories of Christ we know from the Bible. The writer and director was a 21 year old Philippe Garrel and you might argue this was aimed squarely at French students and intellectuals. Garrel, it would seem, doesn't give a damn about finding an international audience.

Is it any good? Well, of course, that depends on just how seriously you take it. There were times when I felt Monty Python might have had a field day with this material. Others may look at Clementi and think of Pasolini. Personally I think it's just the kind of film a student, wanting to give two fingers to the New Wave, might come with. Nico sings on the soundtrack and she's the best thing about this.