[Morgane et ses nymphes]
(1970/FRANCE)
Reviewed By-Kit Gavin Directed by Bruno Gantillon Starring Dominique Delpierre, Alfred Baillou, Mireille Saunin and Michele Perello Source : Mondo Macabro [United States] DVD Region 0 NTSC
The film opens with an attractive naked blond being told to leave a domain, as yet unexplained, by a dwarf, whilst surrounded by ugly elderly women. She resists but is forced to leave, in the nude. Meanwhile, two 20 year old, very pretty Parisienne students take a well earned break by taking a drive in the countryside of the Auvergne area. Laughing and joking the two girls discuss their futures, Françoise, the serious one discussing how she wants to learn and grow from philosophy and Anna, the blonde, discussing how she wants to draw cartoons. Arriving at a small tavern, Françoise [Saunin] and Anna [Perello], for some mulled wine and coffee for their flask, the two girls realise that the inn is filled with gloomy grotesque mostly geriatric faces, sitting there in silence. Sensing the atmosphere in the place, and having attracted the attention of Gurth [Baillou], a dwarf in heavy mascara amongst the customers, both girls leave when the innkeeper tells them to turn back, finding the mood too creepy.
However the girls carry on along the country road despite the warnings from the innkeeper, after darkness has fallen, the signal from the radio dies, and the girls find themselves driving along the same patch of road over again. Soon enough the car too runs out of gas and the girls find refuge in a small abandoned barn. Having eaten and lain down for the night, Anna takes the opportunity to seduce and tenderly caress her companion before both girls fall into sleep.
The next morning, Françoise wakes up to find Anna has disappeared. She wonders through the woods before she notices the same dwarf from the inn. He calls her attention, and asks her if she wants to find her friend. Naturally Françoise agrees, concerned, and chases after the dwarf before arriving on the banks of a lake. She turns to face the lake and the dwarf vanishes. She makes her way to the bank and a boat, decorated with flowers, but unmanned is there, waiting for her. She enters the boat, which makes it’s own way across the water. Upon arrival she is greeted by three beautiful girls dressed in pastel colors who invite her to follow them to the castle where they live.
Upon arrival, Françoise encounters for the first time the mistress of the castle, the eponymous Morgane [Delpierre] where she is presented with the option of eternal life, complete with the Sapphic delights offered to her by her beautiful young maidens [the "nymphes" of the original French title], each endowed with gifts and talents, or else be condemned to the dungeons of the castle where they will grow old and ugly and die. Naturally concerned for the wellbeing of her friend, Anna, Françoise is told not to worry and is told that Anna is already "with them". This however is not entirely true, as Anna is being held captive below, suspended and tied up with silk shawls, with the other women [and Gurth] trying to convince her to drink from a goblet which will promise her the immortality all the others have taken. Events take a turn when Françoise refuses to submit to Morgane’s whiles and tries to escape the island.
Morgane is a beautiful fantastique film, a modern day erotic fairy tale complete with beautiful imagery, atmosphere, a hypnotic subliminal score and complete with a smattering of gorgeous Gallic pulchritude which is very nice on the eye indeed. The film , despite the fact that Morgane is essentially a vampire, feeding off the souls of young girls with the promise of eternal life, is far from being a horror film. It is an interesting blend of fantasy, erotica and displays an intelligence and an arthouse sensibility not usually found in films of this nature, not least by then 26 year old directors making their feature film debut [!] Nudity is tasteful and poetic, plentiful yet never gratuitous nor exploitative.
The film is well written with a script that allows it’s characters to be more than mere ciphers and one dimensional personalities. Also the story is entirely original in it’s concept, not having been derived from a recognised novel or folklore, nor indeed ripped off from another larger budget movie. The script is actually quite intelligent, and some of the nuances are lost in the English translation, such as when Morgane asks Morgane about her domain using the word "ils" [masculine third person plural] for "them" and Morgane corrects her subliminally by using the word "elles" [feminine third person plural] for "them" (as her domain is exclusively female barring Gurth who has aspirations of becoming Morgane’s master).
Girl Slaves of Morgan La Fey has remained pretty much obscure since it’s initial release in the early 70’s, certainly never available in North America in either a theatrical run nor on home entertainment. It was previously released in the UK on VHS and in it’s shorter variant (in an unexceptional print) on DVD by Pagan Films (again with Pete Tombs helming), but this release from Mondo Macabro is the uncut definitive edition, struck from the original elements, whereas previously the film had been issued from a cut French release prepared for cinemas. Indeed, Mondo Macabro have gone the extra mile with this release, having used the French print and having a largely complete selection of "cuts" also being available – and using a combination of common sense, the original script, and an Italian TV print (itself heavily cut, but giving some inkling of where sequences should lie), a largely 100% complete composite of the film has been created. A couple of scenes with missing dialogue and one scene where Françoise places the mask to her face (a few seconds exist in the trailer) are included in the extras – more below.
The film admittedly is light on horror which may sway some potential viewers, but it is heavy on eroticism and sensuality. Light, playful yet serious too. Eternal ife that comes with a heavy price. The women that Morgan surrounds her self with a nothing more than glorified beautiful lotus eaters of Greek mythology, never aging, but confined within a prison of their own vanity for youth without the desire for advancement nor intellect. The atmosphere is soft, innocent, and dreamlike yet somehow sinister. It is perhaps owing to the lack of blood and horror which would be found in films of a similar reflective ambience by Gantillon’s compatriot Jean Rollin which made the latter’s films more successful and available for world sales whilst Gantillon’s masterpiece has largely languished in obscurity. Gantillon clearly was and is a fine director, as evidenced from one of the short films (also included in the DVD) which he used to raise funding for the picture. Perhaps owing to the eroticism and plentiful female flesh is a considerable contributing factor to why the film never quite made it, sadly, to being fully appreciated by the critics who could have, should have seen the film as a minor arthouse classic.
However, someone will be bound to disagree with the above statement as the girls who inhabit Morgane’s realm are without personality, thought or will. Inhabitants of either a utopia or dystopia. Equally, despite belonging to Morgane and caged of their own free will there exist rules for the girls to live by and a feeling of disgruntlement and envy amongst the ranks. Equally, with the plentiful female nudity and engagement in sapphic pursuits, somebody, somewhere is bound to seek and find offence in the film. But ultimately this film is not aimed at a mainstream audience, brought up on Hollywood schlock and pulp, but for an audience more understanding, more appreciative of European cinema, be it in the unique ambience conjured up by cult B movies or followers of the nouvelle vague, this film should and will be enjoyed by both.
Visuals are stunning and are truly brought out in the release under review here. Blacks are pure, clean and crisp and skin tones and clear and natural. Morgane is very much a film reliant on a combination of darkness and light, pitch black contrasted with the pastel pale colors of the diaphanous dresses that the fair-skinned, brown-eyed girls that inhabit the castle wear. Were it not for the very slight, infrequent spots of flare or film damage that appear infrequently on the film, the video rating here would be a flat down 4. The film has no grain, no speckle nor scratches and is a joy to watch, barring a few instances of flair that far from distract the viewers pleasure of watching the film. Also the film has been presented in it’s correct aspect ratio, with no signs whatsoever of information loss on eirther side. The soundtrack is perfect, with the hypnotic ambient underlying score and the audio free from any sort of hiss or distraction that normally is to be found in films of this age. Subtitles are white, clear and crisp, with only one slight typo error, but this is of such insignificance,and accurately follow events of what is taking place.
Once again Mondo Macabro have made an effort with the extras package that comes with the film and delivers the goods. Three deleted scenes (silent) are taken from the film, which would have added a little more texture to an otherwise still beautifully textured film. Two come from the original elements and the third comes from a rare screening which was recorded off Italian cable television, quite clearly a number of years ago, owing to the beat up condition of the picture – but at least it’s there!!
Also included is the French trailer complete with introductions to the characters, quotes from the poet Charles Baudelaire, and piling on the lesbian action as being the major selling point of the film, which, more than likely, in the early 70’s would have been. Also included is director Gantillon’s short, Un couple des artistes, which he used to sell his abilities as a director (as well as his established work on cult French TV programme DIM DUM DOM). The short has somewhat similar elements to his first feature and also has elements from other more gothic horror films. It’s presence alone as it is referred to in the interview with Gantillon, another great and highly informative extra, is particularly interesting and valuable.
The interview with Gantillon, speaking clearly in English as opposed to his native French, is interesting, honest and informative. The charming Gantillon comes across as intelligent and informed and shows that he was still on the ball as regards directing even in his first feature and certainly was not a jumped up wannabe brat who wanted to make his first film a spicy little feature. He also speaks fondly of his two (surprisingly) female producers, one being the late Catherine Winter, and how he went about raising funding for the film. He peppers the interview with interesting anecdotes. He also talks at length about the presence of the sinister Baillou, and also about the film’s lead having been pregnant at the time of the films production. All fascinating stuff indeed.
Extras are rounded off with the usual Mondo Macabro show reel, growing ever longer with each subsequent release showing the massive scope of fascinating films that Mondo Macabro continues to take under it’s wings and release.
Adding to the fascinating stuff are the usual well written informative yet light-hearted essays about the film, the technicians and its stars (including the chateau where the bulk of the film was shot). Peppered with interesting facts, and a few revelations, the notes make fascinating reading. One of the more interesting facts is that one the two girls, Perello who plays Anna, went on to a career in hardcore porno including making films for acclaimed pornographer Jose Benazeraf, before completely vanishing from the scene in 1982. A real shame as Perello has a similar bourgoise sophistication and beauty shared with Catherine Deneuve, who also had big brown eyes and blonde hair. Perello had as much looks as she did ability yet her career descended into adult cinema. The dwarf, Baillou, ended up destitute and died homeless. Director Gantillon returned to television productions as he refused to descend into the world of hardcore erotica. Only Morgane herself, Delpierre, seems to have aspired and gone on to greater and better things in her acting career and as an authoress of several books.
In conclusion, another fantastic release from Mondo Macabro. In it’s trademark red DVD case, and with a dazzlingly striking and beautiful cover (taken from the artwork of the original Italian cinema two sheet poster, this DVD comes most highly recommended, and surely, without doubt, one of the best Eurocult releases of 2005!
STORY/FILM 3.5 BITCH SLAPS PICTURE 3.5 BITCH SLAPS AUDIO 4 BITCH SLAPS EXTRAS 3.5 BITCH SLAPS OVERALL 3.5 BITCH SLAPS To purchase this DVD, visit X-Ploited Cinema.
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