La rage au corps

Despite its William Castle/Roger Corman exploitation-style structure, LA RAGE AU CORPS has its poignant moments and touches of cinematic brilliance. Book-ended by a mental institution authority addressing the audience, it deals with the sticky subject of young female nymphomania. The American title, TEMPEST IN THE FLESH is rather cheap. The lead role is played by a suitably stunning Francoise Arnoul, one of Europe's celebrated "Femme fatale". (Interestingly, she plays opposite Raymond Pellegrin who starred with Brigitte Bardot in a similarly themed film, LA LUMIERE D'EN FACE that was built entirely around Bardot's breasts. Both films feature the lead actress taking a graphically nude swim for no apparent reason other than to send audience pulses racing.) In RAGE AU CORPS, "Clara" makes an earnest effort to curb her promiscuity by marrying an honourable man, leaving the heavily male-populated construction job where they met and settling in Paris. But the moment her new husband goes away on business, she falls back into lusty "amateur hooker" mode. Inevitably, something violent occurs which lands her in hospital. The film ends with her husband visiting her after a lengthy life-threatening operation. She slowly awakes. Cut to: close-up of her with an ambiguous look of either contentment from having been "cured" or a look of intense "Let's do the nasty. Now." Does she live? Does she die? See this one… if only to try and figure out why so many of the female characters have religious crosses dangling from chains within their sweaty cleavage.

From the beginning of her career, Françoise Arnoul is a most talented and sexy artist, check the movie posters from the fifties. From her first movie, Sin and desire, she played a sexy character (sometimes showing her breast which was quite unique at that time) . She was soon joined by Brigitte Bardot, Claudine Dupuis, Dany Carel,... She was sometimes directed by good directors like Henri Verneuil, Carlo Rim, Pierre Chenal, Henri Decoin and even had the chance to be directed by Jean Renoir with Jean Gabin in French Cancan.

But this "Tempest of the flesh" is only directed by a minor director, Ralph Habib and it lacks energy, but it's still uncommon to see a movie dealing with nymphomania (check also la Fenêtre d'en face, with Brigitte Bardot just before she became a star with And God created Woman). Maybe this kind of melodrama is too much old fashioned today, but Françoise Arnoul' fans will jump on this one. Ralph Habib had already directed her and Raymond Pellegrin in the "Companions of the night" , another exploitation movie.

I won't join the chorus of praises : "la rage au corps" is a misnomer :there's nothing really hot , furious or crazy in this trite story of a bad gal ;Françoise Arnoul was a reluctant prostitute in Habib's precedent effort ,"les compagnes de la nuit ",victim of a nasty pimp (Raymond Pellegrin ) ; they reverse the roles in "la rage au corps" : he's the good faithful lover whereas she 's got a tendency to cheat on him and even goes as far as to do streetwalking .But to make the audience believe they're going to watch a serious meaningful moral story, a doctor (or probably a shrink ) issues a warning in the very first sequence : "there are girls who ......Blah blah blah.....but they are victims who can redeem themselves...

Philippe Lemaire 's part is not developed enough and Jean-Claude Pascal 's appearance is hardly a cameo. Arnoul was sexier dressed in black leather in Decoin's "la chatte" .