The Beguiled (1971)
Offbeat Civil War drama in which a wounded Yankee soldier, after finding refuge in an isolated girls' school in the South towards the end of the war, becomes the object of the young women's sexual fantasies. The soldier manipulates the situation for his own gratification, but when he refuses to completely comply with the girls' wishes, they make it very difficult for him to leave.
- Don Siegel
- Burt Astor
- Joseph C. Cavalier
- Brad H. Aronson
- William A. Morrison
- Ray Quiroz
- Albert Maltz
- Irene Kamp
- Thomas Cullinan
- Claude Traverse
Rating: 7.1/10 by 437 users
Alternative Title:
La notte brava del soldato Jonathan - IT
En mand syv kvinder - DK
El seductor - ES
Les proies - FR
Korpral McB – anmäld saknad - SE
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 45 minutes
Budget: $475,000
Revenue: $1,100,000
Plot Keyword: based on novel or book, mississippi river, sexual repression, sexual awakening, seminary, american civil war, wounded soldier, yankee, 19th century, southern gothic, girls' school
Undeniably creepy. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about 'The Beguiled', though. It's definitely one of the more bizarre films that I've seen, intentionally so of course. I'm just not convinced if it's a good film though, it does do a grand job at making the viewer feel uncomfortable but beyond that I'm not sold. Take out the oddness and there's not much there, I feel. With that said, it undoubtedly leaves an imprint and does what it intends to so I guess it levels out to be something worth watching. Clint Eastwood gives an almost eerily convincing performance, while those behind him are all solid - with the standouts, to me, being Geraldine Page and Mae Mercer. It's certainly 'out there', you gotta give it that. Overall I have mixed feelings, but I am leaning closer to positive than negative.
