Criterion’s release of Beineix’s epic erotic drama recovers the sumptuousness and precision of its images.
The film creates a deeply rooted sense of realism that contrasts the austere, surreal illustrations.
Even when the film hits on some shrewd truths, it always feels timid about digging too deeply into its characters’ inner lives.
Éric Rohmer uses a country-mouse-and-city-mouse template to explore morality, aesthetic sense, urban and rural savvy, and more.
That the film was adapted from a novel is gawkily evident not only in the bare details of the above synopsis.