Bluebeard

Catherine Breillat's version of Bluebeard (French: La Barbe bleue) is yet another example of an ephebophile playing the role of Captain Save a Ho Nymphet.Since Bluebeard doesn't understand that natural looks are one of the least important characteristics of an ephebophile and that as long as one is neat and clean, one's mental make-up is the most important characteristic that is needed to properly attain a nymphet. For example, possessing a high self-confidence, having self-control (i.e., power), and being focused (i.e., consistently being in The Now) are far more important than being naturally handsome.Bluebeard is self-conscience about his unattractive looks - especially his blue beard; therefore, after Marie-Catherine's father dies and leaves her with no dowry, Bluebeard invites Marie, her sister and a bevy of other poor maidens to the castle, because he is "generous" and is willing to help one of them escape poverty through marriage without the need of a dowry.Despite their wide age-gap, Bluebeard's blue beard, and his low self-esteem, Marie is extremely eager to marry Blue Beard. But not because she is (initially) attracted to him, it's because she wants to escape poverty. And like most Captain Save a Ho Nymphets, in the end, Blue Beard suffers greatly due to Marie's initial insincerity.

sick

Multi-layered. Quite dark. I'm still thinking about it many days after watching.

From the era in which it was written, it contained elements which are considered extreme, and mindset which was portrayed fairly succinctly.The storyline was twisted, but the portrayal evocative, drawing you into the reader's world, wrought with the quiet desperation of abandonmentand fear, weaving / binding them to the story line. The ending was quite satisfying, allowing the viewer a sense modern day justice, somethingwhich was not the case of the era written about, but can still be found in todays world, unfortunately.

Great Classic Horror!

Yes, I only gave this two stars. However, to give this film it's due, it was beautifully costumed, scripted, and acted. BUT, and there is a big BUT, there is an unsettling ending to this film, that I'll not reveal, however, in fairness to this film, being based on the fairy tale Bluebeard...perhaps I should have expected it.

I like it

I read the other reviews. I saw nothing hillarious or edgy about this really dull film that could easily have been made a short, rather than a feature.It's two stories in one. On one hand are two young sisters, one reading to the other the 'horror' story of Bluebeard. The other story is that tale acted out.Two other sisters are kicked out of a convent-school because their father has died. Impoverished one marries Bluebeard the local lord who has a reputation of killing all his wives a year after the marriage.Of course one would marry him! That's one of the dumb story elements. The other is that Bluebeard leaves his young bride, gives her keys to all the rooms in the castle, including one room he forbids her to go into.She goes in, and there's the bodies of his previous wives. He returns and has to kill her. And here's the next dumb plot - it's very wordy French film at its worse as she accepts that she'll die, but asks for time to prepare - really to go to the tower and just happens to be able to signal passers-by. He goes to kill her but she asks to be killed in her wedding dress. He allows this. And so on. Other pleas for another delay.It just got so tedious. Nothing really happens the whole film

Nachdem dieser Film vor ein paar Jahren auch im deutschen Fernsehen lief, konnte ich die düsteren Bilder und die seltsame Stimmung einfach nicht vergessen. Nicht nur die wirklich tollen und detailverliebten Kostüme sind es, die diese Blaubart Verfilmung zu einem kleinen Meisterwerk machen - hier stimmt so ziemlich jede Einstellung. Ein kleines psychologisches Gemälde.

Fairy tales in Europe grew out of an old, ancestral storytelling tradition. Long ago they were told to children by their parents and elders. They were dark, scary and forbidding for a reason: to frighten children. Why? To protect them from danger, harm and evil. The more vivid, scary and even gory, the better. Wolves in the clothing of sheep had to be identified. If not, even greater dangers for children might occur.Thus fairy tales arose out of love and care. This may seem obvious, but these days the sanitized Disney versions of these old stories are what many adults prefer for children. Again, for their protection. Which begs the question: Were our ancestors really so ignorant and uncaring? Which in turn invites another question: Why are some these days so ignorant of our cultural traditions?There is no doubt how the director of this film (Catherine Breillat) feels. We enter a traditional fairy tale here. It is filmed like a picture book, a collection of beautiful paintings. Of course there is movement in the film, but this and the editing and dialogue are kept to a minimum. The story tells itself in simple images, just as picture books do for small children.The characters in the story are more like those found in books than actors performing in a film. Bluebeard himself is ogre-like, more monster than man. He is big, bulky, hairy, ugly, scary and of course bearded. His polar opposite is Marie-Catherine, his adolescent bride. She is virtuous, his virgin princess, aged just 14. So, beauty and beast meet in this tale.How does beauty pacify beast? Not with beauty alone. Bluebeard has had other beautiful wives whom he has disposed of (as in murdered). One way or another their beauty was not enough to satisfy him and save them. But Marie-Catherine is different. She is guileless, pure, innocent, transparent, honest. She tells him what she thinks and feels, not what she thinks he wants to hear. Her honesty and purity disarm him. He is not accustomed to encountering such human virtues. He tests her veracity in small ways, presumably in ways he has tested the others before her. She does not fail him. Gradually he begins to believe she may truly like him, which takes him to a new place in his emotions — a place of love. He is lonely for this, and, as odd as it may seem, so is she.How could she love him? She is poor and fatherless. When her father died she could no longer get an education at the local convent. She has no dowry. Her father even left debts in death. What prospects has she? Bluebeard proposes marriage and she accepts. He is a nobleman, a lord. He owns a castle and a vast estate. He is rich and wants for nothing. He has fine clothes, jewels, furniture, feasts. And on her, this small young slip of a girl, he showers wealth because he loves and respects her.Where does his respect for her come from? As stated, she is pure and he recognizes it. But she is also brave. He senses she does not fear him and he is right to think this way. She does not. In fact, she is drawn to him for the care and protection he provides her. But there is something else as well. She recognizes his loneliness and matches it with her own. She is lonely? Yes. She has few friends and feuds with her older sister. Also, Bluebeard is knowledgeable and experienced and she wishes to learn from him. She is happy in the castle by his side and he begins to feel it.Because of all this he also gives her space. When she says she cannot sleep with him yet because she is still too young, he recognizes the truth of it coming from her lips. Perhaps out of shame or guilt he does not press her, granting her wish to sleep separately in her own room and bed. She stands up for herself in other ways too and will not be bullied, and he appreciates her spirit because of it. They live tranquilly within a strange sort of equality she has created for them.He loves her for all this, and she begins to love him too for his understanding and acceptance of her mind and character.Early when they first meet he tells her, "You have the innocence of a dove and the pride of an eagle."Rather than deny it with false modesty, she tells him in return, "I like what you said."Then later from him: "But don't let pride become vanity or you'll be lost. If you tell me the truth, you'll never anger me."He goes away on business for some weeks and she misses him. When he returns he sees that this is true: she has missed him. This was another of his tests that she passed.But of course by the end of the tale she will fail him and herself. She will disobey him then lie about her disobedience. When he discovers the truth of the deceit he is grief stricken more than angry. He loves her but a golden rule has been broken. He has no choice but to kill her, murdering her like all the others before her. She understands this and seems to submit to his command. But to save herself she must commit a final act of deception, delaying her execution long enough for help to arrive at the castle, which does and saves her.The lessons in Bluebeard are for children to process through their own imaginations. Some will be drawn to the danger in it to see how close they can get before saving themselves. Other children will be warned by it: "Be careful of the promises you make." Still others will learn: "Love and goodness may not be enough. Trust and fidelity are also important." It isn't for us as adults to teach our children everything. They aren't students in a classroom to be lectured at. They've been given imaginations as part of their individuality and independence. They will work things through on their own if we give them good stories to work with, and the fact that fairy tales have survived down the centuries might suggest that the Brothers Grimm and others are more than a match for Disney and Pixar.Bluebeard is one of these great tales. In the hands of Catherine Breillat it is preserved close to its original form. She is honest and respectful, knowing that children too have a right to draw their own conclusions.

Surprisingly literal

Catherine Breillats film version of Bluebeard is fantastic. It follows closely to Charles Perraults original version, however Breillat has taken artistic liberty to expand on the tale so much more. It is definitely worth it, even if you don't speak french.She uses to young girls to narrate the film and has created a link between themselves and the two main young girls in the tale that they are narrating. I would recommend both watching this film plus reading Perraults origial story.  The Complete Fairy Tales (Oxford World's Classics)The Complete Fairy Tales (Oxford World's Classics)

This is a subtle but powerful drama of a young girl and an ogre. Breillat tells the history of Bluebeard wonderfully through the imaginations of two young girls reading the story in a book.