Les paumées du petit matin

At one time this was one of Jean Rollin's lost films, but in the age of DVD/Blu-ray its becoming a thing of the past. So is it worth the lime-light(?)... for me, it's a no. That's not implying its awful, just strictly mundane and forgettable low-budget drama.

There's really nothing there, outside a couple of brief moments highlighting Rollin's signature touches (two young women, erotic lesbianism and haunting tragedy). It just lacked those surreal images or better put dream-like quality, instead favouring a glum, down-to- earth reality to tell a tale about the journey of a pair of runaways from an insane asylum. The journey doesn't really add up to much, as it meanders and falls on the repetitiveness with its talkative nature. Because visually it's not striking enough, the plot less nature is found out by being bogged down and it slowly moves from one scenario to another with little conviction. Although the last 10 minutes or so, is where Rollin shines (outside the intro and ice-skating ring scene).

Laurence Dubas and Christiane Coppé are quite good as the two runaways. Watching their neurotic relationship develop made the ending much more effective. Also showing up in a minor bit part is Rollin's regular Brigitte Lahaie.

"The Escapees" is nothing more, nothing less then a curio.

Marie and Michelle are escaping from a lunatic asylum. Michelle is a tough girl who knows how to survive on the road, but the extremely shy Marie desperately clings to her until Michelle gives in and promises help. The two get into a lot of trouble which puts their friendship to a test.

Rollin's lost movie, and lost for a good reason, as the director told in several interviews (one on the British DVD, for example): it was simply so poor no distributor bought it. The director blames this mostly on the scriptwriter. The producer had hired someone to keep the director from continuing with his usual vampire mystery stuff, and that kind of co-operation against each other couldn't work. However, "The Escapees" has enough magic moments to be worth watching. Especially when people stop talking such as in the ending, or when Marie skates on the ice, imagining she is admired by a crowd, but only Michelle is secretly watching her.

Although there is no horror and only a bit little sleaze and violence (courtesy of Brigitte Lahie no less) this is an unmistakable Jean Rollin film - nobody else could, or even wants to make films his way. Two girls, one rebellious and the other one almost catatonic, run away from a borstal-like psychiatric clinic, meets a butch pickpocket-girl, some black strippers and a bunch of sailors and ends up in various adventures. This almost plot less, commercially doomed movie, equally pretentious as it is naive, was bound to make 95% of its audience either laugh or leave their seats, but for a Rollin fan there are some beautiful shots to be found. The figure skating scene was incredible and so was some of the shots at the junkyard. I also liked the sad ending. Not among his best but an interesting footnote in his filmography... for a Rollin fan that is, all others beware! The most shocking thing about this film for me is that there is no...*gulp*... beach scene! What happened, Jean? A few years back you couldn't even shoot a cheap porno without a trip to the beach?

The Escapees is one of Jean Rollin's most obscure films. As I watched it I couldn't help but wonder just who this movie exactly was aimed at. It's a wilfully uncommercial film, even by Rollin's standards. And while I am for the most part a fan of the director's oeuvre I can't say I enjoyed this one very much at all. The main problem is it's so mundane and lacking in the otherworldly feel that is typical of the director's best work and is grounded too much in reality. While the basic idea of a couple of young melancholic girls on the run encountering a series of unusual events is textbook Rollin, the movie has none of the fantastique element to feed off. I've heard that this was a result of producers trying to impose certain restrictions on Rollin, and ensuring he did not make another of his idiosyncratic vampire movies. They wanted a more sell-able product but ironically ended up with an even less commercial film than the director would normally turn out. It's really not difficult to see why this became a lost film and effectively sank without a trace.

There are occasional moments that have the director's fingerprints all over them. Such as the scene in the ice rink at night. This memorable moment incorporates the poetic and slightly surreal imagery that Rollin is most loved for. Unfortunately, The Escapees rarely has any other sequences that approach this. Its fairly plot-less story just meanders from one low key scene to another with very little over all purpose. It doesn't feel like the director's heart is in this project and it isn't ultimately a lot of fun.

Two young women escape from an insane asylum and are taken in by a travelling erotic dance troupe. When the travelling show is raided by the police they are out on the lamb again. They meet another young woman and come up with a plan to escape via ship. However, as with all of their adventures, nothing ever seems to go to plan.

Quite weak. Plot is a rambling, unfocused mess. There really doesn't seem any point to anything - it's just one random event after another. There are some reasonably interesting scenes towards the end but by then any engagement you had with the story or characters is gone, so the conclusion occurs in a vacuum.

Performances are okay but that's about the only positive thing I can find.