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{{short description|1983 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}

{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
| name = La Belle captive
| name = La Belle captive
| image = La belle captive.jpg
| image = La belle captive.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Film poster
⚫
| native_name = <!--(for non-English films: film's name in its native language)-->
| caption =
⚫
| film name = <!--(for non-English films: film's name in its native language)-->
| director = [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]]
| director = [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]]
| producer = [[Anatole Dauman]]<ref name="bifi" />
| producer = [[Anatole Dauman]]<ref name="bifi" />
| screenplay = Alain Robbe-Grillet<ref name="bifi" />
| screenplay = Alain Robbe-Grillet<ref name="bifi" />
| story =
| story =
| based on = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| based_on = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| starring = {{plainlist|*[[Daniel Mesguich]]
| starring = {{plainlist|*[[Daniel Mesguich]]
*[[Gabrielle Lazure]]
*[[Gabrielle Lazure]]
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| music =
| music =
| cinematography = [[Henri Alekan]]<ref name="bifi" />
| cinematography = [[Henri Alekan]]<ref name="bifi" />
| editing = [[Bob Wade]]<ref name="bifi" />
| editing = Bob Wade<ref name="bifi" />
| production companies = {{plainlist|*Argos films
| production_companies = {{plainlist|*Argos films
*FR3 Cinema<ref name="bifi" />}}
*FR3 Cinema<ref name="bifi" />}}
| distributor = Argos films
| distributor = Argos films
| released = {{film date|1983|||France}}
| released = {{film date|df=yes|1983|||France}}
| runtime =
| runtime = 89 minutes
| country = France<ref name="bifi" />
| country = France<ref name="bifi" />
| language =
| language =
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}}
}}


'''''The Beautiful Prisoner''''' ({{lang-fr|'''La Belle captive'''}}) is a 1983 French avant-garde film directed by [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/la-belle-captive-v84609|publisher=[[AllMovie]]|title=La Belle Captive|accessdate=May 23, 2016|last=Voorhees|first=John}}</ref>
'''''La Belle captive''''' is a 1983 French avant-garde film directed by [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/la-belle-captive-v84609|publisher=[[AllMovie]]|title=La Belle Captive|access-date=23 May 2016|last=Voorhees|first=John}}</ref> A playful mystery, the film combines elements of erotic allure and supernatural horror with a pulp fiction plot. Suffused with visual surrealism, it often explicitly evokes the works of René Magritte.

==Plot==
Walter Raim, a junior operative in an intelligence agency, is attracted by a provocative blonde in a night club, but she will not give him her name or telephone number. He is summoned by his boss, Sara Zeitgeist, to deliver an urgent letter to a senior politician, Henry de Corynthe.

In open country, he sees a woman lying in the road. When he stops to help her, it is the mystery blonde with her clothes awry and her thigh bloody. Loading her into his car, he stops at the first house to ask for help. An all-male party is going on and they think he has brought them some entertainment. They show him and her to a bedroom, where she revives sufficiently to make love, inflicting deep bites to his neck.

In the morning, she and all the guests have gone. Walter finds a chain she was wearing that has her name engraved on a plaque - Marie-Ange van de Reeves. Stopping for a coffee, he sees in the morning paper that Marie-Ange is due to marry Henry de Corynthe but has been abducted. He rushes back to the empty house and asks next door, but gets no help. At last going to de Corynthe's house, he finds him dying from a heart attack and the police searching for clues over Marie-Ange's whereabouts.

Walter blunders on trying to find the truth about Marie-Ange, while the police suspect him of murder. It is possible that the real Marie-Ange died years ago and that what de Corynthe and Walter have fallen in love with is a vampire. It is also possible that Walter is dreaming the whole mystery. As he drives off to work one morning, he again sees the body of Marie-Ange in the road. A van full of police in combat gear arrives, and Sara Zeitgeist orders them to shoot him.


==Cast==
==Cast==
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* [[François Chaumette]] as Dr. Morgentodt
* [[François Chaumette]] as Dr. Morgentodt
* [[Gabrielle Lazure]] as Marie-Ange van de Reeves
* [[Gabrielle Lazure]] as Marie-Ange van de Reeves
* [[Gilles Arbona]] as Le barman
* [[Arielle Dombasle]] as The hysterical woman
* [[Arielle Dombasle]] as La femme hystérique
* [[Gilles Arbona]] as The barman
* [[Jean-Claude Leguay]] as Le cycliste
* [[Jean-Claude Leguay]] as The cyclist
* [[Nancy Van Slyke]] as La serveuse
* [[Nancy Van Slyke]] as The waitress
* [[Denis Fouqueray]] as Le valet (as Denis Foucray)
* [[Denis Fouqueray]] as The valet
* [[Michel Auclair]] as La voix de Walter, off (voice)
* [[Michel Auclair]] as Walter's voice
* [[Roland Dubillard]] as Prof van de Reeves
* {{ill|Roland Dubillard|es||fr||gl||ht||no}} as Prof van de Reeves


==Release==
==Release==
''La Belle captive'' was released in France in 1983 where it was distributed by Argos Films.<ref name="bifi">{{cite web|url=http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=50959&_ga=1.62548843.674586891.1462659961|title=La Belle captive|publisher=bifi.fr|language=French|accessdate=May 23, 2016}}</ref> It was entered into the [[33rd Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1983/02_programm_1983/02_Programm_1983.html |title=Berlinale: 1983 Programme |accessdate=2010-11-15 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref>
''La Belle captive'' was released in France in 1983; it was distributed by Argos Films.<ref name="bifi">{{cite web|url=http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=50959&_ga=1.62548843.674586891.1462659961|title=La Belle captive|publisher=bifi.fr|language=French|access-date=23 May 2016}}</ref> The film was entered into the [[33rd Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1983/02_programm_1983/02_Programm_1983.html |title=Berlinale: 1983 Programme |access-date=15 November 2010 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> In a review, Tim Lucas noted that it was "not especially successful in France, but it was one of (Robbe-Grillet's) most popular films abroad."<ref name="sightsoundLucas" />

Lucas also noted that ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' Alain Robbe-Grillet is "said to be rigorously protective of his films -- despite their exploitable elements of sex, mystery, fetishism and even supernatural horror -- not wishing them to become associated with the similar though less cerebral works of fellow oneirics and eroticists like [[Jean Rollin]] and [[Jess Franco]]; consequently, they have had virtually no authorised presence on home video apart from an academically issued limited edition of SECAM tapes in the 1980s."<ref name="sightsoundLucas">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Sight & Sound]]|title=La Belle Captive|last=Lucas|first=Tim|volume=17|issue=6|page=88|date=June 2007|publisher=British Film Institute|issn=0037-4806}}</ref> A DVD of the ''La Belle captive'' was released by Koch Lorber in 2007.<ref name="sightsoundLucas" />

==Reception==
Critic Tim Lucas (''Sight & Sound'') described the film as "Robbe-Grillet lite. Its lead actors fail to fascinate and it lacks the hypnotic allure that distinguished ''[[Last Year at Marienbad|Marienbad]]'' and ''[[L'Immortelle]]''."<ref name="sightsoundLucas" /> Lucas opined that the film may "have been more involving, one imagines, had its allusions been subtitled, rather than its narcissistic dialogue and narration."<ref name="sightsoundLucas" /> but that the film still "shares the self-reflexive sense of humour of Robbe-Grillet's ''[[Trans-Europ-Express (film)|Trans-Europ Express]]'' and that "several of (cinematographer) Alekan's images are appropriately captivating."<ref name="sightsoundLucas" />


Michael Brooke (''[[Sight & Sound]]'') noted that despite the DVD cover's comparison to [[David Lynch]]'s ''[[Eraserhead]]'', ''La Belle captive'' was "Alain Robbe-Grillet's most explicit tribute to the original French Surrealist movement.", noting that "Robbe-Grillet constantly undermines narrative, temporal and spatial expectations at every turn while teasing the viewer with iconography drawn from [[René Magritte|Magritte]], American thrillers, [[F.W. Murnau|Murnau]]'s ''[[Nosferatu (1922 film)|Nosferatu]]'' and much else. It's tempting to assume that the somewhat vacant lead performances are absolutely as intended, the better to offset Daniel Emilfork's grotesque police investigator, smirking at knowledge that he's withholding from everyone else."<ref name="sightsound">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Sight & Sound]]|title=La Belle Captive|last=Brooke|first=Michael|volume=19|issue=10|page=85|date=October 2009|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|issn=0037-4806}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:French avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:French avant-garde and experimental films]]
[[Category:French films]]
[[Category:1980s French-language films]]
⚫
[[Category:French-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet]]
[[Category:Films directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet]]
[[Category:Films produced by Anatole Dauman]]
[[Category:Films produced by Anatole Dauman]]
[[Category:1980s avant-garde and experimental films]]
{{1980s-France-film-stub}}
⚫
[[Category:1980s French films]]

Latest revision as of 02:18, 24 September 2022

La Belle captive
Film poster
Directed byAlain Robbe-Grillet
Screenplay byAlain Robbe-Grillet[1]
Produced byAnatole Dauman[1]
Starring
CinematographyHenri Alekan[1]
Edited byBob Wade[1]
Production
companies
  • Argos films
  • FR3 Cinema[1]
Distributed byArgos films
Release date
  • 1983 (1983) (France)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryFrance[1]

La Belle captive is a 1983 French avant-garde film directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet.[2] A playful mystery, the film combines elements of erotic allure and supernatural horror with a pulp fiction plot. Suffused with visual surrealism, it often explicitly evokes the works of René Magritte.

Plot

[edit]

Walter Raim, a junior operative in an intelligence agency, is attracted by a provocative blonde in a night club, but she will not give him her name or telephone number. He is summoned by his boss, Sara Zeitgeist, to deliver an urgent letter to a senior politician, Henry de Corynthe.

In open country, he sees a woman lying in the road. When he stops to help her, it is the mystery blonde with her clothes awry and her thigh bloody. Loading her into his car, he stops at the first house to ask for help. An all-male party is going on and they think he has brought them some entertainment. They show him and her to a bedroom, where she revives sufficiently to make love, inflicting deep bites to his neck.

In the morning, she and all the guests have gone. Walter finds a chain she was wearing that has her name engraved on a plaque - Marie-Ange van de Reeves. Stopping for a coffee, he sees in the morning paper that Marie-Ange is due to marry Henry de Corynthe but has been abducted. He rushes back to the empty house and asks next door, but gets no help. At last going to de Corynthe's house, he finds him dying from a heart attack and the police searching for clues over Marie-Ange's whereabouts.

Walter blunders on trying to find the truth about Marie-Ange, while the police suspect him of murder. It is possible that the real Marie-Ange died years ago and that what de Corynthe and Walter have fallen in love with is a vampire. It is also possible that Walter is dreaming the whole mystery. As he drives off to work one morning, he again sees the body of Marie-Ange in the road. A van full of police in combat gear arrives, and Sara Zeitgeist orders them to shoot him.

Cast

[edit]

Release

[edit]

La Belle captive was released in France in 1983; it was distributed by Argos Films.[1] The film was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.[3] In a review, Tim Lucas noted that it was "not especially successful in France, but it was one of (Robbe-Grillet's) most popular films abroad."[4]

Lucas also noted that Sight & Sound Alain Robbe-Grillet is "said to be rigorously protective of his films -- despite their exploitable elements of sex, mystery, fetishism and even supernatural horror -- not wishing them to become associated with the similar though less cerebral works of fellow oneirics and eroticists like Jean Rollin and Jess Franco; consequently, they have had virtually no authorised presence on home video apart from an academically issued limited edition of SECAM tapes in the 1980s."[4] A DVD of the La Belle captive was released by Koch Lorber in 2007.[4]

Reception

[edit]

Critic Tim Lucas (Sight & Sound) described the film as "Robbe-Grillet lite. Its lead actors fail to fascinate and it lacks the hypnotic allure that distinguished Marienbad and L'Immortelle."[4] Lucas opined that the film may "have been more involving, one imagines, had its allusions been subtitled, rather than its narcissistic dialogue and narration."[4] but that the film still "shares the self-reflexive sense of humour of Robbe-Grillet's Trans-Europ Express and that "several of (cinematographer) Alekan's images are appropriately captivating."[4]

Michael Brooke (Sight & Sound) noted that despite the DVD cover's comparison to David Lynch's Eraserhead, La Belle captive was "Alain Robbe-Grillet's most explicit tribute to the original French Surrealist movement.", noting that "Robbe-Grillet constantly undermines narrative, temporal and spatial expectations at every turn while teasing the viewer with iconography drawn from Magritte, American thrillers, Murnau's Nosferatu and much else. It's tempting to assume that the somewhat vacant lead performances are absolutely as intended, the better to offset Daniel Emilfork's grotesque police investigator, smirking at knowledge that he's withholding from everyone else."[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g "La Belle captive" (in French). bifi.fr. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  2. ^ Voorhees, John. "La Belle Captive". AllMovie. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Berlinale: 1983 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lucas, Tim (June 2007). "La Belle Captive". Sight & Sound. Vol. 17, no. 6. British Film Institute. p. 88. ISSN 0037-4806.
  5. ^ Brooke, Michael (October 2009). "La Belle Captive". Sight & Sound. Vol. 19, no. 10. British Film Institute. p. 85. ISSN 0037-4806.
[edit]
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