Love Rites - Marina Pierro

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Love Rires")

directed by Walerian Borowcyzk
France 1988

NOTE: The Blu-ray of Love Rites is reviewed and partially compared to the DVDs HERE

Hugo (Matthieu Carriere, MALPERTUIS) gets side-tracked from his trip to pick up some valuable vintage Fortuny dresses when he sites enigmatic prostitute Myriam (Marina Pierro, THE ART OF LOVE) on the Metro. Myriam is no mere prostitute. Carrying herself with the air of a courtesan (or a geisha), she lets Hugo pursue her and capture her. She gets him to confess his secret desires to her in the pews of an old church and he allows himself to be lead blind through the streets by her. They consummate the physical part of their relationship within the idyllic plant- and butterfly-filled apartment of Myriam's "friend" Sara Sand but when Hugo cannot shed his masculine ego Myriam soon turns the tables and assumes dominance in a gruesome manner. Based on the novel "Everything Disappears" by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues (Borowcyzk's LA MARGE and Jack Cardiff's GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE), LOVE RITES is simplistic in plot yet utterly stylish in execution as one would expect from Borowczyk with festishic attention to objects, delicate lighting, and painterly composition. Like most male roles in Borowczyk's films, Carriere's performance is merely functional but he is not asked to do much; in fact, his lack of facial expression intentionally suggests a stasis of personality compared to the multi-faceted nature of Pierro's character and the obsessive attention of the camera to her face as she makes it up on the train.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 30 March 1989

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Cult Epics (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Cult Epics (Complete Version) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Pagan Films - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

(Cult Epics (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Cult Epics (Complete Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Pagan Films - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Cult Epics Region 1 - NTSC	Cult Epics Region 1 - NTSC	Pagan Films Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:26:21 (4% PAL speedup)	1:36:21 (4% PAL speedup)	1:23:25 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.48:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.43 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.49:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.44 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.44:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.76 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Cult Epics (Director's Cut)
Bitrate: Cult Epics (Complete Version)
Bitrate: Pagan Films
Audio	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	English, none	English, none	English (burnt-in)
Features	Release Information: Studio: Cult Epics Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.48:1 Edition Details: • Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery DVD Release Date: April 26, 2005 Amaray Chapters 8	Release Information: Studio: Cult Epics Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.49:1 Edition Details: • Production Still Gallery DVD Release Date: April 26, 2005 Amaray Chapters 8	Release Information: Studio: Pagan Films Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.44:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: 29 March 2004 Amaray Chapters 5

Comments

NOTE: The Blu-ray of Love Rites is reviewed and partially compared to the DVDs HERE

All three transfers are interlaced (exhibiting heavy combing) but both the complete and director's cuts on Cult Epic's double-sided DVD feature better contrast, color, and sharpness (although a degree of the softness is certainly intentional, see THE ART OF LOVE review). The subtitles are also optional. The photo galleries on both sides are not duplicates. The gallery on the complete cut side features production stills while the one on the director's cut side features behind the scenes photographs.

The Cult Epic's transfers are PAL-converted, the native PAL Pagan DVD is not only interlaced with burnt-in subtitles but it runs shorter than the director's cut on the Cult Epics disc (although the Pagan disc was passed with no cuts by the BBFC). Neither disc is a great representation of the film but the Cult Epics' release has two cuts of the film and better color. All three transfers are non-anamorphic and their matting could be described as hard-matted without new video mattes (flare sometimes bleeds over the mattes). The Pagan edition has been reissued in the UK (with a nicer cover) by Hanzibar Films.

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus
(Cult Epics (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Cult Epics (Complete Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Pagan Films - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Cult Epics (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cult Epics (Complete Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Pagan Films - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
subtitle sample

(Cult Epics (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cult Epics (Complete Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Pagan Films - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)

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(Cult Epics (Director's Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Cult Epics (Complete Version) - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Pagan Films - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)