
Bluebeard
France, 2009 | 80 min. | Dir. Catherine Breillat
The story of Bluebeard has been put to film many times, most memorably in a 1972 Richard Burton/Raquel Welch thriller, but never has it looked as good as in Breillat’s stylized adaptation. Two girls tell each other the Bluebeard story in a framing sequence as the viewer observes Bluebeard choose his next victim. Breillat does fine work demonstrating the push/pull allure of the monstrous Bluebeard to young girls, and even an abrupt ending can’t damage the film’s weird charm.