Walerian Borowczyk Collection (1968)

THE BEAST: This controversial film takes place in the 18th century--the story of a beast who lives in the woods of an aristocratic estate lusting after the lady of the house. Eventually, he goes after her. Two centuries pass, and the new heiress of the estate constantly dreams of the terrifying tale of this beast--and must now learn to live with this horrible family secret.LOVE RITES: Based on a novel by the French surrealist Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues--whose work was often adapted by Polish director Walerian Borowczyk--LOVE RITES was the director's last entry in his prolific interdisciplinary oeuvre. Exhibiting the subtle horror and overt sensuality that characterized his work throughout his career, the story follows Hugo (Mathieu Cariere), an antiques dealer who encounters a high-class prostitute, Myriam (Marina Pierro), on the Paris Métro, where she solicits her clients. Immediately enamored of her sultry charms, he follows her home to an apartment owned by an enigmatic, unknown woman. He has his way with Myriam, but soon finds that he is no longer in charge of the proceedings, as she assumes control of him, body, mind, and soul. The film is an example of the keen sensibility Borowczyk brought to everything he did, along with a willingness to transgress boundaries in ways that were previously unheard of. Though this caused him to be labeled a pornographer in many circles, Borowczyk's interests and aesthetic, like those of the similarly minded Georges Bataille and the Surrealists, were deeply rooted in macabre, ritualistic perceptions of the erotic. The result was a complex, idiosyncratic visual language that drew upon the director's experience in painting and lithography as well as film, creating a distinctive catalogue of imagery that included insects, antiques, autumnal light, and class warfare.GOTO, ISLAND OF LOVE: Absurd, erotic, and surreal, this is Borowczyk's first live-action film after he made his name as an animator. The island of Goto is ruled by the despotic King Goto III (Pierre Brasseur), who ensures his position by relegating his people to thankless jobs and issuing cruel and unusual punishments. When a criminal scheduled to fight in a death-match tells the king his queen (LA JETEE's Ligia Branice, Borowczyk's wife) is having an affair, Goto's response ends his reign, as well as several lives.