User Reviews

The viewer is warned by the director at the onset, but it is nonetheless a terrifying portrayal that kept my heart in my throat until the very end. The fable is set in the Middle Ages, and the armored knight on horseback in the opening scene leads one to expect an exalted image of "heroism," but this expectation is exploded in gradually mounting fashion, almost like the medieval battering rams beating down the castle door.

First, the child murders to fulfill his father's charge; then he grows up without love, as he has deprived his mother of love, setting in motion an ever more insidious chain reaction of smoldering hate. The child now grown up as the knight of the castle goes away to the wars, after having given the world a son, Arnaud, and daughter, Beatrice, who is purity personified. (She reminded me of the daughter in "Virgin Spring.")

Awaiting her father, we see her communion with nature and the primitive Virgin and Child icon that sits in judgement throughout the film. Beatrice expresses loving innocence and expects it in return, but when her father returns, each act reveals with a shock his real (or changed) nature: seated at table, he finishes eating, washes his hands, and, after he has cruelly described his son as a coward, he sees his son still eating, and further humiliates him in a pattern that culminates in an act that will cause terror even in those inured to the depiction of violence and depravity in today's movies. The rape of Beatrice by her father is in itself but one further step taking his blameless offspring into his descent into hell; while the last incident with his son forced to dress as a girl to be raped as prey is the most horrific of all and certainly ranks with the real-life event in "Boys don't cry."

Throughout the film, Tavernier seems to be showing us a window into two worlds: that of the "real" Crusades, and that of the contemporary era, where acts of violence are almost the only way some beings can communicate. We are meant to feel the same terror that Beatrice, in a remarkable performance by Julie Delpy, endures, and that of her brother, played by the director's son, Nils. As for Donnadieu as the father, he inhabits the role with a coldness and brutality glimpsed in his eyes in an early closeup at table that immedately tells Beatrice (and us) that something is amiss.

Moviemakers today seem not to be able to get by without sex and violence, and the intention is often to shock and titillate for its own sake. But through Tavernier's lens, we experience the genuine emotion of the actions, almost unaware of the "acting" per se. The ultimate compliment to the cast and director. Some previous reviewers have asked what is the point of the film except to depict a horrific case of child/family abuse? As a fable, I believe the director is saying there has been no "progress" in human nature.

One final point: this movie also encapsulates Tavernier's attitude toward the horrors of war (Capitaine Conan, La Vie et Rien d'autre, etc) in another guise -- war dehumanizes the living. If we compare this film with his Un Dimanche a la Campagne, we will understand the meaning of cruelty in the balance of his values and his aesthetic of spirituality in daily life as expressed in the faces of children, or Beatrice (or Sabine Azema's). Five stars ***** but not for the weak-hearted.

Julie Delpy stars in this horrific film about a sadistic relationship between a father and a daughter in France of the 14th Century. The film attempts to shatter the romantic chivalry image of the heroic medieval knight, by showing a rather dreary image of the period, defined by psychological dysfunction, and violence.

The movie opens with a child, François, growing up in the shadow of the Hundred Years' War, told by his father to keep his mother safe and to wait for his return. François takes action when he discovers his mother with a lover in bed. François murders him in the name of defending his father's honour. Like father like son, François grows up, and leaves his family, also to go to the same war. This setting is somewhat of an explanation for the events to come, as on his way home, we already notice that something is wrong with François. The war has not done well with him, he has changed.

The daughter, Béatrice de Cortemart (Delpy), awaits her beloved father, to return from captivity of the English. She is pure of heart and she was left to take care of the estate while her father was gone. In her father's absence, Béatrice needs to deal with financial difficulties, which strengthens Béatrice's hope that her father will return to save her. But, upon his return, she notices that he lost the will to enjoy life, and he tortures and humiliates everything around him, even his own daughter. From this points the film depicts various ways how François torments his family. Starting with humiliating his own son, and ending with the rape of his own daughter, Béatrice.

Setting the film in the Middle Ages supposed to soften the blow, as the viewer may tell himself, that these kind of violent acts were held in difficult times. And indeed, many films on the topic of Incest, such as Tim Roth's "The War Zone (1999)" which are contemporary were more shocking because of that.

Delpy appears in this film in several daring nude scenes. Indeed she appears to be angelic and beautiful.

I was annoyed when I saw some animal torture scenes. I believe, and this is not confirmed, that some birds were killed for the making of this film, which really upsets me. The quality of a film drops when real violence is used towards animals. I would hope that this movie will be re-released without those cruelty scenes. Those scenes do not contribute much to the film storyline.

Overall, the movie is too long. The script is problematic. We don't get to see François and Béatrice before the war, we don't really get the answer why is he changed to such extreme. I would have pass on this film, however, I have to mention a few scenes that made this film worth watching:

* Scenes of a young child being able to murder in cold blood is truly shocking. I saw it first time on "City of God (2002)". Here, François, murders his mother's lover, while his father away at war. Excellent scene and very graphic. * The scenes from Béatrice being raped by her father till she finds out she is pregnant from him are truly shocking and interesting. The scene after the rape, where Delpy burns her cloths and cleans herself. She asks her brother to kick her in the stomach with hopes to have a miscarriage.

* The brother humiliation scenes where the father dumps his son's head into the food - humiliating him then ranting about the war. Later, dressing his son with women's cloths.

The film won the César (French Oscar) for Best Costume Design, I agree, the costumes here really make the film look authentic for the time period. The movie location is Château de Puivert, a real 12th century castle and a historical monument, located in Aude, South-Central France. Beautiful castle and mountain view, really helps you set into the period of this film. The film also nominated for 3 more César awards, but they were all snatched to the widely successful French film "Au revoir, les enfants" ("Goodbye, Children", 1998).

--- Released as "Beatrice" in New York City, March 1987. Only to be screened in France on November 2007. Watched it on YES3 on 3 May 2007, 17:45, at work.