DVD Corner

Immoral Tales Blu-ray Review

NSFW.

“Immoral Tales” is a 1973 French anthology film containing 4 erotic stories. “The Tide” involves cousins playing a sex game during high tide, “Therese Philosopher” involves a young woman who mixes sex with religion, “Erzsebet Bathory” involves the titular Countess and her Squire rounding up women from a Hungary village for truly evil purposes, and “Lucrezia Borgia” revolves around the titular Pope Alexander VI’s daughter’s incestous relations.

Director/writer Walerian Borowczyk is synonymous with erotic shock cinema and “Immoral Tales” certainly fits into that category. Through these 4 stories, Borowczyk explores different facets of sexuality, perversions and sinful desires in 4 very different stories set in 4 different time periods each with their own theme. To say this film is not for everyone is an understatement. Some may find it to be shameless, pornographic, blasphemous, or exploitive while others may be fascinated by Borowczyk’s artful boundary pushing. High art it may not be, but Borowczyk’s cinematic offerings are never boring. The stories always appear cinematic even if the content itself may be lacking. Of the 4 “Erzsebet Bathory” is the best of the lot here as it tells a complete story (and an unnerving one at that).

However one may feel about “Immoral Tales,” there’s no denying that the stories always have something to say. This isn’t just a sordid French movie as Borowczyk has a lot to say about society (and how some things haven’t changed), sexuality, religion, and, yes, immoral behavior.

Note: The Blu-ray contains the theatrical cut and an extended cut featuring a fifth segment titled “The Beast of Gevaudan.”

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.66:1 1080p. How does it look? Aside from the beginning of ‘Therese,’ this is a superb print in which the rich colors really shine.

Audio Track: French 1.0 PCM. How does it sound? Expect a crisp Uncompressed Mono track.

Extras:
* DVD copy
* An intro by Daniel Bird
* A trailer for “Immoral Tales.”
* Interviews with production manager Dominique Segretin and camera operator Noel Very.
* An interview with director Walerian Borowczyk from an unaired 1985 documentary.
* “Blow-Ups”- A look at Borowczyk’s various art pieces

Note: A booklet is listed but this copy did not contain one.

January 18, 2022 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Arrow Video, French Cinema, Immoral Tales Blu-ray Review