The read
It runs a compact 1h 20m.
Synopsis
"Taking its title from John Keats’s early 19th-century poem, this highly personal melodrama finds Dulac interrogating the archetype of the femme fatale. La belle dame sans merci follows a famous actress who was once seduced and abandoned by a rich man and subsequently resolved to become a “merciless woman,” forever scheming to hurt others (men in particular) in a ruthless yet captivating manner. Dulac challenges the Romantic archetype embodied in Keats’s poem by way of symbolist mise en scène, self-reflexive narration, and her typically associative approach to editing, locating a modern ambiguity within the stereotypical figures of 19th-century art." - Film Society of Lincoln Center
Ratings
IMDb6.4/10
3 audience votes
Key crew
- Germaine DulacDirector
Cast
- Tania DaleymeLola de Sandoval
- Yolande HilléIrène
- Denise LorysComtesse d'Amaury
- Jean TouloutComte Guy d'Amaury
- Jean TarrideHubert d'Amaury
- Pierre MaregMarquis de Saint-Érasme
- Lucien GlenLucien
- Louis MonfilsCast
Stills
Themes
woman director