Georges Bataille's posthumously published 1966 novel makes the unlikely leap from page to screen with all its naughty bits intact, but stripped of the deep spirituality that makes the book a truly shocking read. Pierre (Louis Garrel) returns to his parents' home in the Canary Islands to find that during the years he spent living with his grandmother, little has changed between his mother, Helene (Isabelle Huppert), and his father (Philippe Duclos). Mom is as saintly, distant and exquisitely beautiful as ever, while Dad is still the debauched, drunken lout whom Pierre suspects beats his lovely wife. When his father is suddenly killed while on business in Nice, however...
Released:
2004
Rated:
NR
Length:
110 mins