Le lit de la vierge (1969) Online

A strange story of Jesus (Clémenti), before his passion. His mother Marie (Zouzou) cannot get him out of the house to do his proselytizing, but eventually he takes bullhorn in hand and gets rejected at every door. He meets Marie Magdalène (Zouzou) who is happy to spend time with him as long as he gives her stones like her other clients. He spends a lot of time with these two women and occasionally goes out to proselytize in the water, on the rocks and in the swamps, He is ridden off his donkey by some thugs on horses while he gives out drugs to various prostitutes along the way. And he sees horrific suffering when his mother opens Pandora's Box. In the end, he wanders off into the ocean while a very pregnant Marie or perhaps Marie Magdalène lies on her back like a beached whale at the edge of the water. Beautiful stark rocky sets with intense lighting and minimal acting. Except for a few scenes with the thugs and Monty Python like fighting apostles, there is little music. Oddly compelling and intense visuals, that might hold anyone's attention, even if they knew nothing about the Jesus stories.

"The Virgin's Bed" is a tale of the Christ unlike any other. Pierre Clementi is a hippyish Jesus and Zouzou, she of "Love in the Afternoon", is either his mother and/or Mary Magdelene and the setting is hard to determine, but is almost certainly not 2,000 years ago and not even 1969 when the film was made but an indeterminate future. In other words this is vaguely allegorical rather than literate, a kind of home movie Passion Play shot in black and white with only a very tenuous link to the stories of Christ we know from the Bible. The writer and director was a 21 year old Philippe Garrel and you might argue this was aimed squarely at French students and intellectuals. Garrel, it would seem, doesn't give a damn about finding an international audience.

Is it any good? Well, of course, that depends on just how seriously you take it. There were times when I felt Monty Python might have had a field day with this material. Others may look at Clementi and think of Pasolini. Personally I think it's just the kind of film a student, wanting to give two fingers to the New Wave, might come with. Nico sings on the soundtrack and she's the best thing about this.