Les infortunes de la vertu

Jess Franco's interpretation of the Marquis de Sade's Justine, seems a bit tame for my taste. I really wasn't expecting much going into this (it IS Jess Franco, after all...) so I can't say I was that disappointed. I was expecting a pretty average sleaze film, and that's what I got...

Justine and her sister are banished from a private school when their father dies and leaves them no money for tuition. The one sister goes to a whorehouse to work, Justine decides that ain't her thing. The rest of the film is pretty much comprised of Justine being subjected to different forms of exploitation that would have been way worse than what she would have experienced in the whorehouse...

Nothing really notable about JUSTINE, other than the beautiful women that show far too little skin. Don't get me wrong - there is nudity in the film - even some brief full-frontal - but it's never long enough or in the right situation to be arousing or memorable. The acting is decent - the sets and costumes are very well done, and the story is relatively entertaining - but it tends to drag. It actually took me three viewings to watch it all the way through, because I kept falling asleep (though I partially blame that on the bourbon...). Not a horrible film, worth a look to exploit fans, just don't expect too much...6/10

In a word; terrible. The actual story "Justine" is a somewhat perverted morality tale that has a very shrewd understory; de Sade is well known in spite of his fascination with the perverse - he truly was a gifted wordsmith.

Would that the same could be said of Franco's "Justine". According to Franco on the short interview included on the DVD, Romina Power was basically forced on him to be the "star", and he does not hide his disgust at her performance in the interview. Franco didn't want her, Power didn't seem to care either way (he said she rarely even knew when the camera was rolling; basically, she'd have a hard time even playing convincing furniture) and to things even better, Romina's Mom tagged along.

If you're looking for S&M, you're not going to find it here. If you're looking for nudity, you will find it here, but you quickly won't care. If you're interested in the Marquis de Sade, you won't learn anything about him by watching this. If you're on Death Row with two hours left, then this truly is the film for you; but all others should really steer clear.

Klaus Kinski was listed as the star of the film in Europe, and yet he speaks no lines and interacts with none of the other characters in the film. The first few minutes of the film (around 10 minutes, but it seemed like 30) show Kinski as the Marquis. He appears to be swimming in a sea of writing compulsions and drifting beyond the bounds of reality, or he's simply in dire need of a strong laxative. Either way, his segments are interspersed throughout the film, and they add absolutely nothing.

Jack Palance is wildly flamboyant, but it's hard to tell what the heck is going on with him anyway. In one particularly bizarre sequence he's gliding around on some sort of a wheeled dolly like a wax statue. According to Franco, Palance was always drunk, but he was pleased with his performance as Antonin.

It's not erotic. It's not sensual. It's not alluring. My wife and I watched it anticipating something like "The Story of O", but ended up with "The Story of O No". Definitely NOT recommended.

Cloistered at a nun convent sisters Justine : Romina Power and Florette : Maria Rohm are forced to abandon the nunnery protection . Then the brazen, flirtatious Florette follows a life of deabuchery, prostitution, robbering and murder , while the virginal, virtuous Justine wishes to remain innocent but instead slips into a life of distress , torture , whipping , bondage , branding , kidnapping , slavery , predatory lesbianism, and salaciousness . Justine attempts to mantain her virtue and her standards against lewd people , unfortunately , she is victimized by everyone she encounters . Justine's only possible hope of true love and salvation in a suave and elegant painter : Harald Leipnitz .

Freely based on Marquis Sade novel, dealing with the nubile young Justine lousily played by Romina Power , as a good-natured girl cast out of a nun orphanage who is thrust into a depraved world of abusers , crazy priests , and lascivious people . There're also some scenes dealing with Marquis de Sade : Klaus Kinski , in fact being paced by means of flashbacks when the Marquis is imprisoned during pre-French Revolution Bastille , along the way he has dreams , nightmares , vision , and a lot of images of naked women . It is a twisted tale of strange desires , betrayals , perverse pleasures , prurient men and corruption of innocence as told by the Marquis de Sade himself . And outstanding Maria Rohm as the roguish Juliette , she was a ravishing beauty married to film producer Harry Alan Towers . And Jack Palance overacting , as usual, as a supreme sadistic monk . Being a Spanish/German/Italian production , here apppears Spaniard actors as Gustavo Re , Luis Ciges , Claudia Gravi, Jose Luis Martin, Carmen De Lirio, Gerard Tichy , Italian : Sylva Koscina , Roxemary Dexter , Rosalba Neri , German : Harold Leipnitz , Klaus Kinski , Horst Frank and American : Jack Palance , Mercedes McCambridge , Akim Tamiroff , Jack Palance . Special mention for the colorful cinematography by Manuel Merino, in a luxurious copy perfectly remastered , shot on location in Park Güell, Castell de Montjuic , Palau and Park de Montjuic , Plaza de Sant Felipe Neri , Plaza del Rey , Ciutat Vella , Barcelona , Spain . Along with a potent and rousing musical score by Bruno Nicolai. The motion picture was regularly directed by the prolific Spanish filmmaker Jesús Franco .

This book by Marquis de Sade has been adapted as "Justine de Sade" 1972 by Claude Pierson with Alice Arno , Marco Perrin, Franco Fantasía . "Cruel Passion" 1977 by Chris Boger with Koo Stark and Martin Potter . And about Marquis de Sade there are some films as "Marquis" 1989 written by Roland Topor and "Quills" by Philip Kauffman with Geoffrey Rush , Joaquin Phoenix, Uma Thurman .

This is one of the ultra-prolific Spanish director Jesus Franco's biggest budget movies, from a period in his career where he took an actual bit of care (i.e. There is actual editing in this one). It's a story based on the notorious 18th century novel by the Marquis de Sade, it tells the story of a couple of Parisian orphan girls. Juliette becomes a prostitute and marries a rich noble, while Justine goes down a purer path but winds up sent to prison for a murder she didn't commit, ends up escaping and encountering a succession of shady characters. There's not a bad cast in this one, with everyone's favourite German with a personality disorder, Klaus Kinski as de Sade (I am guessing this role suited Kinski down to the ground as I don't think he had any lines to learn), Eurotrash babes Maria Rohm, Sylva Koscina and Rosalba Neri appear in various parts, with Jack Palance also appearing in a very strange role indeed. While this is a very uneven movie, it does benefit from its episodic nature, meaning its pacing is not too bad. It could be described under the specific grouping known as literary sexploitation, i.e. Sexploitation for people who read books.

I went into this film expecting lots of nudity and bad acting, as it turned out I got the opposite of both. The star of the film Romina Power is wonderful as well as beautiful. Some other reviewers have said she appeared dull and uninterested, but I don't think that is the case. I think her spaced out look was a cunning ploy to take advantage of situations when needed. Of course she was a virgin and untrusting of men which also lead to her innocence.

The beautiful setting and costumes should have won the Academy Award. :) Look for Jack Palance over-acting as a sexual deviant monk, who attempts to free young Justine. Jack and his fellow monks are studying the power of PLEASURE!!! They should have shown this at the Academy Awards the year after Palance won for City Slickers, and the whole place would have fell down laughing. I liked this movie, the uncut version runs 2 hours on DVD and is well worth it. I never got bored with the film. 5/10 Average, but better than I thought it would be.