reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/22/85)
This is the first of a series of reports I will be posting
on the films I've seen at Filmex, the Los Angeles International
Film Exposition. The appearance of the articles will be sporat-
ic, as I can't see films and review them at the same time. (I
do, after all, have work to do, as well.) At any rate, here is a
review of "Blanche".
Ken Wlaschin, artistic director of Filmex and in charge of
selecting movies for Filmex, practically jumped up and down and
squealed with glee about this movie. I'm not quite sure why.
"Blanche" is a French film from 1971. It was never released in
the US, which is a mild pity. The director is a Pole, Walerian
Borowczyk, one of the finest animators in the world. Lately
(like the last fifteen years), he's been doing live action films;
more recently, those films have featured explicit sex and extreme
violence ("The Beast" and "Immoral Tales"). "Blanche" is from
before that period. Basically, Borowczyk took one of the
warhorse melodramas from the 19th century, changed the setting
from 17th century Poland to 13th century France, and made an ex-
quisitely detailed film of it. The problem is that Borowczyk has
more interest in period details than the story itself. Not to
the extent that the film becomes boring, but certainly enough to
hamper the movie.
The lord of a castle (Michel Simon, excellent in his last
screen role) welcomes the king who has come by on a visit. Simon
has recently remarried, to the beautiful and chaste young Blanche
(Ligia Branice). Simon also rejoices in the return of his only
son (Lawrence Trimble) from the Holy Land. The honor of enter-
taining the king seems the crowning glory of his life. Alas, the
king is a randy sort, and so is his page. They both lust after
Blanche. Moreover, Trimble is also deeply in love with her.
Despite Blanche's insistent defense of her virtue, circumstances
lead to tragedy.
Borowczyk starts out playing this for comedy, with mixed
results, then switches over to tragedy, with equally mixed
results. The failure of "Blanche" rests in Borowczyk's obsession
with period detail, while failing to deal with a period story.
The plot of "Blanche" seems vaguely off for the period in which
it is set. Maybe it plays better in 17th Poland, but it doesn't
seem true to the milleu which Borowczyk so carefully arranged in
all other ways. His insistence on showing us, in detail, every
authentic prop and costume, to the detriment of the characters
and story, suggests that Borowczyk's mind wasn't on matters at
hand, but was wandering through the museums he had visited to
research "Blanche". When the king hands a message (encased in a
special box) to his page, we see every detail of sealing the box
and the camera depicts the king's pencase with just as much em-
phasis as the king's hand. We don't see his face at all in the
shot. Borowczyk wants to make sure that we get a good look at
the authentic period pencase and message box. They're nice, but
this is a film, not a museum case.
Borowczyk is also rather clumsy and opaque with his symbols.
In retrospect, I see that his constant return to shots of the
king's mischievous pet monkey and Blanche's imprisoned dove were
meant to symbolize their respective natures, but while the film
was running these shots seemed little more than irrelevancies.
Even now that I see their meanings, these symbols look like lit-
tle more than artistic conceits. They add little or nothing to
the film.
The acting is all quite good, and the film is physically
very attractive. (The print shown at Filmex was unfortunately
faded, but the prints for the upcoming American release should be
new and beautiful.) The various castles and woods used in the
filming are impressive and evocative of the period, as are the
props, costumes, and fine (if sparsely used) score by the French
Le Group des Instruments Anciens de Paris. The song sung over
the opening and closing credits is particularly fine. As a nar-
rative, "Blanche" is acceptable but unexceptional. Members of
the Society for Creative Anachronism should not miss "Blanche".
Others might enjoy it, but should expect a bit less than a mas-
terpiece.
"Blanche" is expected to be released in the US within the
next six months, using standard foreign film release patterns.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher