La belle captive (1983)

Walter is told by his boss, Sara, to deliver an urgent letter to Henri de Corinthe. On the way he finds a beautiful woman he had been eying in a nightclub, lying in the road, bound up. He ... See full summary »

Director:

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Writers:

Alain Robbe-Grillet, Frank Verpillat (adaptation)

Stars:

Daniel Mesguich, Cyrielle Clair, Daniel Emilfork

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Daniel Mesguich	...	Walter Raim
Cyrielle Clair	...	Sara Zeitgeist
Daniel Emilfork	...	Inspector Francis
François Chaumette	...	Dr. Morgentodt
Gabrielle Lazure	...	Marie-Ange van de Reeves
Gilles Arbona	...	Le barman
Arielle Dombasle	...	La femme hystérique
Jean-Claude Leguay	...	Le cycliste
Nancy Van Slyke	...	La serveuse
Denis Fouqueray	...	Le valet (as Denis Foucray)
Michel Auclair	...	La voix de Walter, off (voice)
Roland Dubillard	...	Prof van de Reeves
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Guy Bonnafoux	...	Un homme en smoking

Storyline

Walter is told by his boss, Sara, to deliver an urgent letter to Henri de Corinthe. On the way he finds a beautiful woman he had been eying in a nightclub, lying in the road, bound up. He takes her to a villa to get a doctor, and ends up being locked in a bedroom with her. While she is making love to him, he has visions of surrealistic images from René Magritte's paintings. In the morning, the girl, Marie-Ange, has vanished, the villa looks derelict, and his neck is bleeding. Was it all just a nightmare?

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | female frontal nudity | reference to magritte | sex

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

16 February 1983 (France)

Also Known As:

The Beautiful Prisoner

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argos Films, France 3 (FR 3)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Marie-Ange van de Reeves: I don't have a name. I'm sorry. I lost it. I'll let you know if I find it.

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Soundtracks

"Le quinzième quatuor (Streichquartett Nr. 15 op. 161. D. 887)"
Written by Franz Schubert (as Schubert)
Performed by Alban Berg Quartett (as Alban Berg Quartet)
EMI CO 6903832

User Reviews

La belle captive

Very much like Alain Robbe-Grillet's other films in its fractured narrative, sexual and psychological preoccupations, and sense of ambiguity, except it's appallingly poor when compared to the tremendously entertaining "Trans-Europ-Express" and the fever-dream S&M world of "Eden and After". This is a film which like some of Godard's lesser work mistakes making references to art and intellectuals for actual substance, except Robbe-Grillet is no Godard and hence could never possibly have pulled off making a film which featured his own filmic language in spite of including countless references to the work of others. "La belle captive" is like poorly-shot, cheap version of a David Lynch film, and just about the only good thing I can say about it is that it made me feel like watching "Eyes Wide Shut" again. Sadly, the headache this piece of crap gave me will make doing that less enjoyable.