Capital Celluloid 2018 - Day 82: Fri Mar 23

Blanche (Borowczyk, 1971): Close-Up Cinema,7.30pm


This screening is part of the Walerian Borowczyk season at Close-Up Cinema. You can find all the details of the season here. 

Time Out review:
In this remarkable film, Borowczyk, through his commitment to ambiguity (notably in his framing, which forever denies the foreground/background opposition) and his belief in almost entomological observation, transforms his 13th century characters - a foolish old Baron, an overproud King, a lecherous page and a stupidly handsome lover, all of whom are in love with and/or lust after the simple Blanche, the Baron's young wife - into tragic figures caught up in a dance of death over which they have no control. In exactly the same way, the castle and its decor, photographed by Borowczyk as though it were living and its inhabitants were mere dolls for the most part, is seen as the backdrop to a happy fairytale, and at the same time as the root of all evil, as rooms and bizarre machines are opened and set in motion.

Phil Hardy

Here is an extract from the opening of the film.

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