Don't Deliver Us from Evil

Don’t Deliver Us from Evil

1971

Director- Joël Séria

Cast- Jeanne Goupil, Catherine Wagener

From France

           

This highly taboo film isn’t horror.  Neither Satan nor any of his minions make an appearance. There is nothing remotely supernatural in the film. In fact, the film is not really about anything. There isn’t much of a plot and it doesn’t seem to be making much of a point other than the contemplation of lust and abandonment to evil.

            It follows two young teenage girls, Anne and Lore, who are presented as practically lesbians and have both decided to devote their lives to evil. Most of their “evil” is teasing grown men with their sexuality.  However, it progresses into the sinister at times and the viewer wonders when the girls will go too far. Eventually, their schemes backfire and their life of lustful abandonment begins to unravel.

            The movie stirs up a lot of emotion. The girls are supposed to look underage so there is, I suppose, a measure of guilt to be associated with the unavoidable arousal that some of the scenes are intended to produce, such as Lore spreading her legs to a man she is attempting to entice. There is also a fair amount of sacrilege, such as the girls cheeking their communion wafers to later use in a ceremony where they dedicate their lives to Satan. The girl’s idea of Satanism is very naïve.  The occult never enters into it. But its naiveness makes it seem all the more perverse.

            I should point out, that compared with a lot of films in this era, Don’t Deliver Us from

Evil, has very little nudity and no sex. I suppose though, in the issue of quality over quantity, this movie wins out due to the Lolitaesque nature of its stars.

            There is the potential for interesting character exploration, but it never happens. Lore always seems to be the one trying to lure in the men, yet once she gets them, she fights off their advances and seems scared and repulsed. Anne, the more sociopathic of the two seems pointlesslessly cruel, yet there is a scene where she purposefully kills a bird and seems immediately sad and regretful.  Adolescent sexuality is not something most people or movies are willing to look at (notice how Leon the Professional was edited before opening in America), and this film takes a hard look at teenage sexuality brought to the surface, but we never get any insight. Exploring these themes could have made for a much more interesting film.

            That’s not to say the film is without merit. Art is supposed to elicit a reaction and I’d say all but the numbest will leave the film with some emotion; shock, arousal, guilt, anxiety, anger, etc.  The film was very controversial in its day and originally banned, though not for its sexuality but for its anti-Christian themes.  It has a beautiful score and the 2 girls are very believable.  Watch it not as a serious examination of evil but as an artistic weaving of taboos, and you’ll be satisfied.