Le Plaisir

A well executed trio of short stories adapted from the works of Guy de Maupassant. Filmed in the 1950s and set in the 19th Century.

The only things not to like about the films are the fact that they are in black and white and there is a voice over narration for all three stories.

I actually liked the voice over and in this film I think the voice-overs add depth to the film.

The stories are a romantic mixture of sweet and sour and have a resemblance to some of Susan Hill's short stories but are less depressing.

The artificial eye DVD has some extra features that are well worth watching

One for the dilettantes who find sophistication in such mish-mash as this.

Instead of being called Pleasues it should have been called Ironies.

An old man almost kills himself chasing young girls while his wife stays at home and nurses him (not much pleasure for her).

An overconvoluted story about a madam taking her girls to a confirmation where the dialogue makes Eastenders a work of art.

And a cliched artist and model love story.

Dreary.

This movie seeks to bring to life the decadence of French society in the last decades of the nineteenth century through dramatisation of three of de Maupassant stories. Beautifully shot and directed, it leaves very sour aftertaste, for the squalor of this rotten society comes across all too forcibly. The world of Maupassant and Zola and Toulouse-Lautrec forms the backdrop to all three stories and in it the men are without exception callous and lecherous pigs whether in white tie, opera cloak and top-hat or in peasant's blouse and the women, whether wives, mistresses or prostitutes, are lied to, betrayed and exploited without conscience. The most chilling - even disgusting - aspect of the movie is the realisation that the little girl whose first-communion is the occasion for the party in the second story will most probably, in a few years, be joining her aunt in the brothel from which she, and her companions in misery, are having a single night’s break. The credibility of this particular story is undermined by having all the prostitutes played by beautiful women, beautifully made up, beautifully coiffured and beautifully dressed. Lautrec’s paintings of such unfortunates would have provided a better model for the director to work from. For all the elegance of the direction and the beauty of some many of the actresses, this is an unrelenting and deeply depressing depiction of human degradation. At the end I felt soiled by having seen this movie and wondered why anybody would have wished to make it in the first place. So much for the Belle Époque!

Fell asleep half way through. Very hard going and poorly adapted for film. The stories themselves are much better to read.

I read some novels by Maupassant when I was little, one I think about girl who works in big department store. Since I can't remember much about this film I cannot really say much about it. I remember it had Jean Gabin in it taking care of prostitutes on trip to country. And he used to play Maigret.