Immoral Tales

In the spirit of "I'll try anything once", I watched my first Walerian Borowczyk film; it is also probably going to be my last. His brand of pseudo-arty, antiseptic, plotless soft-core porn is totally not my cup of tea (besides, we already have Jess Franco for that). The first story is the best, because it's at least the most honest; the worst is probably the third, in which the shower scenes go on for what seems like three centuries. * out of 4.

Interesting exploration on erotism, that tell four tales of 'immoralities', casually plenties of sex. However, it is interesting the focus on the corruption of governors and religious people. And visually is very well-done. I think that it has no dialogue at all. Interesting. How it could be better? Well, there are a lot of naked women, but i think that some women of a potential public would be interested in more naked men. Who knows? 7/10

Overall, this film is quite boring. There are 4 unlinked segments, with only the third likely to keep you awake.

This is the familiar tale of Countess Elisabeth Bathory. Bathory is a historical character who apparently used to favour blood taken from naked virgins.This scenario is an exploitationers delight, and we get to see room loads of young girls running round in the buff.

But even so, this story seems to head nowhere, and much is left to your imagination.

Four tales from various historical eras. The first, 'The Tide', is set in the present day, and concerns a student and his young female cousin stranded on the beach by the tide, secluded from prying eyes. 'Therese Philosophe' is set in the nineteenth century, and concerns a girl being locked in her bedroom, where she contemplates the erotic potential of the objects contained within it. 'Erzsebet Bathory' is a portrait of the sixteenth-century countess who allegedly bathed in the blood of virgins, while 'Lucrezia Borgia' concerns an incestuous fifteenth-century orgy involving Lucrezia, her brother, and her father the Pope.

Such a crazy film. From the very plot synopsis, you might think this was something like Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted To Know". I mean, heck, these are vignettes about unusual sexual practices, right? But the intent is clearly different. Allen was being funny and not all that risqué.

This film, on the other hand, has almost no humor and seems to be made for one purpose: to put as many nude women in one film as humanly possible. Granted, it is still a good film in some ways and has an artistic merit. It is not pornographic. But seeing as a similar film could have been made with only a fraction of the nudity, it is clear what the intention was.

Contes Immoraux/Immoral Tales(1974) is an erotic series of short films that opens with "The Tide". This first tale is about a young girl who is taught by her cousin about the connection between sex and the highest peak of a water wave. The story is average and is the least interesting. This tale is about how sex and intellectual thinking can go hand to hand. About how sex and the idea of sexual contact is thought up by the middle class.

The second tale in the film is one of the two best tales in this sensual anthology. Its about a sexually repressed young woman that discovers her urges through her religion beliefs. Charlotte Alexandra who plays the sex hungry woman is excellent in the role as well as absolutely breathtaking and arousing. She finds her sexual pleasure through fantasies of sex and self sex using vegetables. The story is about a woman's yearning to be independant and feminine.

The tale telling of the Countess Elisabeth Bathory is the best story. It takes place during the final hours of the countess before her arrest at the orders of the king. The story takes a shot at the government structure by showing its self indulgence and absolute corruption. Elisabeth Bathory was not a vampire in the traditional sense. First, she was still alive and did not suck blood. Paloma Picasso, daughter of the fame artist is wonderful in the role of the infamous countess(interestingly, when she is arrested the kings men put a suit on her that reminds me of the prisoner's arrest suit in Brazil).

The next and final tale is about one of the most scandalous moments in the 20th Century. It features a shocking menage a trois that is very bold to view. The story is about the love affair between Lucrezia Borgia and her father, the pope plus another man. The sex sequences are disturbing and shocking. This story is very powerful in its depiction of religious corruption.