La chair de l'orchidée (1975)

A disturbed young woman is kept prisoner in a castle by her aunt for her money. The game-keeper, her guardian, tries to rape her but she escapes. In her flight she meets a man also running ... See full summary »

Director:

Patrice Chéreau

Writers:

James Hadley Chase (novel), Jean-Claude Carrière,

Stars:

Charlotte Rampling, Bruno Cremer, Edwige Feuillère

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlotte Rampling	...	Claire
Bruno Cremer	...	Louis Delage
Edwige Feuillère	...	Madame Bastier-Wagener
Simone Signoret	...	Lady Vamos
Alida Valli	...	La folle de la gare
Hans Christian Blech	...	Gyula Berekian
François Simon	...	Joszef Berekian
Hugues Quester	...	Marcucci
Rémy Germain	...	Arnaud
Roland Bertin	...	L'homme d'affaires
Marcel Imhoff	...	Le directeur de l'asile
Pierre Asso	...	Le docteur
Marie-Louise Ebeli	...	L'infirmière de l'asile
Ève Francis	...	La mère de Delage
Luigi Zerbinati	...	Alcide

Storyline

A disturbed young woman is kept prisoner in a castle by her aunt for her money. The game-keeper, her guardian, tries to rape her but she escapes. In her flight she meets a man also running away, from two killers.

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Plot Keywords:

plant in title | full frontal nudity | psychiatry | full frontal female nudity | foreign language adaptation | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

France Italy West Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 January 1975 (France)

Also Known As:

Flesh and the Orchid

Filming Locations:

Uriage-Les-Bains, Isère, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

V.M. Productions, Paris-Cannes Productions, Films Félix Méric

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Follows No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948)

User Reviews

Somewhat compelling mess

Decadent Frenchmen doing terrible things to each other in rain-soaked decaying towns--sounds interesting to you? It did to me when TFO showed this Chereau film recently. Charlotte Rampling as young Claire and Edwige Feuillere as her aunt promised much entertainment, but the reality is that this movie is a disjointed mess that even good performances (the star-studded cast boasts Alida Valli and Simone Signoret too) cannot save.

Claire has a habit of blinding men who paw her with a knife: she does this three times. The two brothers--circus performers turned professional killers (God knows why)--are completely unbelievable. Madame Bastier-Wegener is always surrounded by about ten people, carrying out her orders, they're like a flock of seagulls swooping around. The plot gets more opaque as the film goes along, leaving the viewer desperately trying to fill in the blanks.

Chereau's films hold very little interest for me. He is a theatrical director (his opera productions are really gripping) who strays into cinema from time to time.