It's characteristic of the virtues and limitations of French sexual provocateur Catherine Breillat...that they usually derive from the same source--the fearless determination to skirt the borders of camp.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
1 Aug 2008
fresh:
[An] entertaining, elegantly shot adaptation of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly's 19th century novel.
– Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
It's devastating.
– Rafer Guzman,
Newsday,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
Argento seizes each scene with both hands, adding surprising layers of feeling as she goes.
– Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
The director Catherine Breillat's period adaptation of an 1851 novel by Barbey d'Aurevilly delivers sex and pain with style and conviction that render her familiar themes new again.