Two films come to mind on seeing ' La Fille Aux Yeux D'or ' and one is Astruc's ' Le Rideau Cramoisi ' and Melville's ' Les Enfants Terribles. ' Along with Albicocco's arguably finest film they all have a cruel and rather perverse ( using this last word in its positive sense ) view of sexuality, and to the extreme ways of admitting to and denying love. Desire rules and in this film there is a group of men in a secret club capturing women by any means to satisfy their erotic needs. In one scene one of them played superbly by Paul Guers wears an animal mask as if to devour his prey. As well as trying to satisfy his cold needs he has a bizarre relationship with Francoise Prevost ( one of France's greatest actors ) who plays a bisexual fashion photographer. Both of them desire the girl with golden eyes played to the ambiguous hilt by Marie Laforet. Of the three protagonists I found her acting less interesting than the other two. She seems to desire both Guers and Prevost, and the outcome is inevitably complex and tragic. End of spoilers. I have no idea why this masterpiece of French Cinema has been so ' lost ' and was only available as a supplement to the DVD of Albicocco's ' Le Grand Meulnes. ' It can now be fortunately seen on YouTube with English Subtitles. Made in 1961 it shows a fashionable Paris crowd and filmed in black and white it superbly evokes that era of troubled times. Everything for pleasure and love a passport word for sexual needs; the downside being that real emotions creep in and destroy the erotic pleasure. A film well worth seeing for its visual beauty but also for Paul Guers ( what a great Valmont he could have been ) and for Francoise Prevost at her very best.
Review of The Girl with the Golden Eyes
