Ah! les belles bacchantes....

As a lifelong Louis de Funès fan, I went into Ah! The Beautiful Priestesses of Bacchus expecting the same comedic brilliance that defines much of his work. Unfortunately, this film fell far short of those expectations.

The plot or lack thereof is one of the main issues. The movie meanders without much direction, leaving the viewer wondering what it's trying to achieve. There's very little action or humor to keep things interesting, and even de Funès himself seems underutilized, with none of the sharp wit or frantic energy that usually makes his performances so entertaining.

Despite trying my hardest to appreciate the film for what it is, I found myself increasingly disengaged as it dragged on. Eventually, I couldn't even finish it, which is rare for me with anything involving de Funès. Unless you're a die-hard completist for his filmography, this one is safe to skip.

This film appears to be aplauded by its own countrymen and derided by everyone else. I can only say, as an Englishman that I agree with my French counterparts! This film for me was a delightful surprise! It has to be viewed within the context in which it was made and anyone who thinks that the musical numbers are poor has really missed the point! The film captures in scenes of wonderfully absurd comedy, a rehearsal for a french revue in a second rate variety theatre. It was great fun to see Loius de Funes in an early supporting role, but I particularly like the whole feel of the film. At its most realistic, it really captures the feeling of being there in the theatre while chaos rules the rehearsal.

Many of the pieces are hilariously funny, not least the bathing hut scene on the beach and the monks finale piece. For anyone who cringes at the nudity, I was delighted to find it all left in, realistically and is it should be! Also nice to see Agfacolour, though I have to confess that the print I saw was a slightly faded Eastman colour print form my own archive. Never-the-less, a delight and one to be accepted for what it is. It is a delightful time capsule period piece and I loved it!

You got to be such a snob, with a very limited horizont and a shallow mind to make a bad review on this movie.

I feel sorry for those who can't enjoy a film from another world, from 70 years ago, when things were simpler, the laughs were more honestly and even the nudity were more intriguing.

You just have to enjoy it, a rare experience you will remember.

Ouch! What were they thinking? This movie is so bad, it's scary. It's strictly a showcase for beautiful women. In fact, its only originality is probably the amount of nudity for the time.

Louis De Funès' talent is wasted. He's reduce to imitate a chicken. Which is funny, but to carry it on for the entire film is absurd and stupid. Oh! and by the way... the musical numbers are awful. Skip this one, by all mean.

Out of 100, I give it 51. That's good for 0 star out of 4.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 5th, 2002.

I was expecting a B-Movie French musical. After all, Dhéry, Blanche, DeFunès were superstars of low budget French films of that time. And it is in color! But I have hallucination in this unbelievable one hour 30 of pure mediocrity. Musical numbers are awful, and comedy is absolutely boring and stupid. And the songs? What songs? This is just a succession of bad numbers, one after another. The only one very rare thing about that thing is the nudity of women. It was not familiar at that time. In fact, some numbers are just there to show us topless women. It adds to the mediocrity! And try to find young Michel Serrault, the future great actor of French cinema, in a bit part as a musician, in his very first movie. Good luck!