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Beatrice

1988, Movie, R, 128 mins

Beatrice: Review

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Tavernier's follow-up to the internationally successful ROUND MIDNIGHT is the director's most challenging work in a career that has included such brilliant, idiosyncratic films as SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY and the Oscar-nominated COUP DE TORCHON. Continuing Tavernier's interest in generational conflict and his predilection for setting timeless stories in very specific historical periods, BEATRICE, set in 14th-century France, tells the story of the relationship between a feudal lord who returns from the One Hundred Years War a bitter, sadistic man (Donnadieu) and his pure-hearted daughter, the title character (Delpy). For four long years Delpy has anxiously awaited her father's return; instead of showing his daughter fatherly kindness, however, Donnadieu brutally (and sexually) abuses her until, finally, she refuses to take anymore. Difficult to watch, and more difficult to enjoy, BEATRICE alternates between de Keyzer's stunning photography of the French countryside and assaultive images of ugly violence. Tavernier's medieval world is not the stuff of Hollywood movies but a raw, realistic portrayal of a society in which woman are treated abominably and children ignored. An anomaly in this world is the pure Beatrice--powerfully played by the radiant, 18-year-old Delpy in her first starring role after appearances in Jean-Luc Godard's DETECTIVE and KING LEAR and Leos Carax's BAD BLOOD. Donnadieu (THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE) also delivers a strong performance as the frightening but not unsympathetic father. Unfortunately, although BEATRICE is an accomplished work and Tavernier a director in command of his vision, the film is never so compelling as it would like to be. A film about inner strength and purity of soul, it, regrettably, tells rather than shows us its meaning--at least partly because of the weak script by Tavernier's ex-wife (O'Hagan). (Videocassette French; English subtitles.) leave a comment
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