LA BÊTE / THE BEAST (1975)

98 minutes

Director: Walerian Borowczyk

Producer: Anatole Dauman

Cinematography: Bernard Daillencourt, Marcel Grignon

 

Walerian Borowcyk, a Polish director with a flair for fantasy porn vaguely masked as erotic arthouse, outdid himself with La Bête. Everything from puppetry erections, masturbating with a rose, bestial fellatio, is in this filmic curiosity. Put it this way, it’s the only film I’ve seen where an 18th C damsel gets raped by a puppet beast, then on the turn of a dime -likes it- then proceeds to demand more before getting synthetic cum all over her tits.

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As curious as it is graphic, La Bête doesn’t just deal with bestiality, it plunges into it headfirst. A film that was banned in some countries for over 20 years, it is the center of an ongoing controversy (quite rightly too) as to how bestiality should be depicted on camera.

In the United Kingdom, even after comprehensive cuts by the distributor over the course of the next two years, the film was unable to be passed by the BBFC upon release.

The reasons, as listed in letter dated 22 March 1977, include:

-Sight of horses copulating in explicit detail.

-A line drawing of a woman being mounted by an animal.

-Close shots of masturbation, (iv) close shots of genital detail.

-The more explicit moments in the ‘dream sequence’, including the ‘beast’ rubbing his penis against a tree.

-The ‘beast’ masturbating and placing his head between a woman’s legs.

-The sight of the beast’s semen flowing over the woman’s buttocks, breasts and stomach.

The film eventually passed uncut on February 1, 2001.

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The back-story, if you really needed one to justify such madness, is a horny yet financially liquid American heiress is interested in marrying the reclusive horse breeding son of a French aristocratic family. Within the first ten minutes you’re treated (the first of many) to a minute and half of horses mounting in possibly the closest shot of a horse’s vagina you’re likely to see on anything committed to film.

If you’re in for a different night in, La Bête certainly doesn’t disappoint, and for all its failings, the graphic world it vividly creates is to be applauded. Surreal, magical, and unnerving, it touches on bestiality like no other ‘respectable’ film has.

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Tips to enjoy La Bête (1975)

  • Put your animals outside before they start looking at you.
  • Enjoyed this film (secretly)? Then try Immoral Tales (1974) a series of interwoven saucy tales. The dream sequence from La Bête was originally planned to be one of the stories.

Can’t find it? You can buy it here (just put it on some else’s credit card).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/La-Bestia-B%C3%AAte-Import/dp/B007XP6PEU

 

Other Links for Trivia and Info on La Bête (1975):

 

Wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_B%C3%AAte_(film)

 

Rotten Tomatoes

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1111305-beast/

 

IMDB entry

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072752/

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