This film will no longer be available in Subscription from 31 January 2022
Blanche
Borowczyk's visually stunning historical drama, which presents the story of a young woman's hypnotic beauty in the style of a moving medieval fresco.
Period drama 1971 94 mins
Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Overview
Borowczyk's visually stunning historical drama about a young woman's hypnotic beauty. Ligia Branice gives a heart-rending performances as Blanche, the young, beautiful wife of a senile baron, played by the legendary actor Michel Simon. When an amorous king pays a visit, not only does he fall under Blanche’s spell, but also that of his page, the infamous philanderer Monsieur Bartolomeo...
For his breakthrough feature, Borowczyk employs a distinctive visual style in which action unfurls in a kind of tableaux vivant, resembling medieval frescos and accompanied by stunning ancient musical arrangements drawn from the ‘Carmina Burana’ song book.
Related
Period drama
Smiles of a Summer Night Smiles of a Summer Night
Comedy 1955 109 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman’s Cannes prize-winning comedy assembles various couples in a country house in 1900.
Rashomon Rashomon
Crime 1950 88 mins Director: Akira Kurosawa
Credited with bringing Japanese cinema to worldwide audiences, Akira Kurosawa’s breakthrough tells the story of a murder in the woods from four differing perspectives.
An Actor's Revenge An Actor's Revenge
Period drama 1963 114 mins Director: Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa's wildly melodramatic tale of a kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge.
Picnic at Hanging Rock Picnic at Hanging Rock
Period drama 1975 107 mins Director: Peter Weir
The film that established Peter Weir as a major filmmaker remains one of the most chillingly atmospheric and beautifully enigmatic films ever made.
A Jester's Tale A Jester's Tale
Period drama 1964 85 mins Director: Karel Zeman
Karel Zeman's astonishing fantasy mixes live-action and animation to tell the adventures of a ploughman and a mercenery during the Thirty Years War.
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
Science Fiction 1988 91 mins Director: Vincent Ward
A group of medieval English villagers find themselves transported to '80s New Zealand, in Vincent Ward's startling fusion of period fantasy and time-travel science fiction.
Walerian Borowczyk
The Beast The Beast
Comedy 1975 98 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
An outrageous classic of erotic cinema, Walerian Borowczyk’s playful and subversive fantasy finds a horny heiress courting the ravenous desires of a wild beast.
Immoral Tales Immoral Tales
Anthology 1974 103 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Walerian Borowczyk presents four stories of sexual taboos throughout the ages, in his highly controversial classic of 1970s erotic cinema.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Horror 1981 91 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Udo Kier stars in Walerian Borowczyk's delirious erotic fever dream, which re-imagines Robert Louis Stephenson's moral tale as a deranged domestic sex farce.
Mr. and Mrs. Kabal's Theatre Mr. and Mrs. Kabal's Theatre
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1967 77 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Walerian Borowczyk's (The Beast, Immoral Tales) first feature-length work is an existential marital drama set in a bizarre wasteland populated by exotic flora and fauna.
Goto, Island of Love Goto, Island of Love
Drama 1968 93 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Borowczyk's entrancing fantasy set on a bizarre archipelago cut off from civilisation, where a petty thief attempts to seduce the dictator's wife.
The Story of Sin The Story of Sin
Drama 1976 125 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Borowczyk’s Palme d'Or-nominated historical melodrama is his most passionate film, casting a critical eye on the Catholic Church while attaining an ecstatic pitch.
Directed by Walerian Borowczyk
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne
Horror 1981 91 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Udo Kier stars in Walerian Borowczyk's delirious erotic fever dream, which re-imagines Robert Louis Stephenson's moral tale as a deranged domestic sex farce.
The Beast The Beast
Comedy 1975 98 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
An outrageous classic of erotic cinema, Walerian Borowczyk’s playful and subversive fantasy finds a horny heiress courting the ravenous desires of a wild beast.
Immoral Tales Immoral Tales
Anthology 1974 103 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Walerian Borowczyk presents four stories of sexual taboos throughout the ages, in his highly controversial classic of 1970s erotic cinema.
The Story of Sin The Story of Sin
Drama 1976 125 mins Director: Walerian Borowczyk
Borowczyk’s Palme d'Or-nominated historical melodrama is his most passionate film, casting a critical eye on the Catholic Church while attaining an ecstatic pitch.
New
I've Been Trying to Tell You I've Been Trying to Tell You
Narrative music video 2021 45 mins Director: Alasdair McLellan
Saint Etienne present a beautiful and enveloping nostalgia trip through 1990s Britain.
Embrace of the Serpent Embrace of the Serpent
Action and Adventure 2015 124 mins Director: Ciro Guerra
The spirit of Werner Herzog and Apocalypse Now imbue this majestic Oscar-nominated odyssey through the heart of the Amazon.
Betty Blue Betty Blue
Drama 1986 185 mins Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix’s story of a volatile, highly sexual relationship was one of the most successful French films of the 1980s.
The Epic of Everest The Epic of Everest
Non-Fiction 1924 87 mins Director: J.B.L. Noel
Premiere. A breathtaking and poignant account of the valiant 1924 British assault on the awe-inspiring peak, beautifully restored by the BFI.
Beyond the Horizon Beyond the Horizon
Drama 2019 88 mins Director: Delphine Lehericey
Under the relentless summer sun, Gus’s childhood is coming to an end as the long-awaited thunderstorms sweep across the exhausted countryside, taking a whole world with them in Delphine Lehericey sizzling rural coming-of-age drama.
The Monopoly of Violence The Monopoly of Violence
Documentary 2020 89 mins Director: David Dufresne
As anger and resentment grows in the face of social inequalities during the Yellow Vests movement in France, many citizen-led protests are being repressed with ever-increasing police violence.