them and achieve an unex­ pected, if tragic, heroism. Kino’s presentation of the


film, letterboxed at approxi­ mately 1.85:1, is excellent. The razor sharp picture features a muted color palette com­ posed of blacks, whites, greys, and browns, with a nicely de­ tailed soundtrack free of noise, and easy-to-read subtitles. —Rebecca & Sam CImland


WOMEN OF THE PREHISTORIC PLANET


1966, Englewood Entertainment, HF, $19.98, 91m 49s, VHS


Returning home after a


Anna Karina as the tormented protagonist of Jacques Rivette’s Gothic drama THE NUN.


of the imagination from which no hasty or unjust generalizations should be made,” may have been added as a compromise to get the film released.) Superbly di­ rected by Rivette—who also di­ rected one of our very favorite French films of the 1970s, the haunted house mystery CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING (1974) —the film makes clear that cru­ elty exists in all corners of soci­ ety, both religious and secular, as do compassion and heroism. Suzanne is treated harshly by her mother and some Mother Superiors, yet to balance this portrayal, there are those who genuinely strive to help her: the first Mother Superior, to whom she looks for spiritual inspira­ tion, the lawyer, and the priest who helps Suzanne out of the first convent that treats her so cruelly. Suzanne herself rises above her misfortunes, which makes the film much more than a social commentary on the


20


repression of women in 18th- century France or an attack against the Church. Anna Karina, best-known for her earlier collaborations with Jean-Luc Godard, is excellent in the title role. A complex and compelling


film, THE NUN looks back at the Gothic novel tradition, as its monastic setting suggests (think of 18th-century thrillers such as Matthew G. Lewis’ THE MONK and Ann Radcliffe’s THE ITALIAN, but it also anticipates by over a decade the film version of Cho­ derlos de Laclos’ LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, with which it shares the condemnation of a rigid society, the sexual repres­ sion and its consequences, and the human heroism that rises above both. Both works portray individuals of an independent spirit and romantic temperament who are victimized by a jaded society, but who manage to tran­ scend the petty cruelty around


lengthy mission, spaceship Cos­ mos I receives a distress call from one of their sister ships, the Cos­ mos III, which is three months of space travel time behind them. A mutiny has taken place aboard the Cosmos III, instigated by some of its Centaurian passen­ gers, who are being removed from their home world and are viewed with undisguised con­ tempt by many of the crew. The violent chaos results in the ship crash landing on the third planet of the Solaris system, a remote and primitive world consisting primarily of humid jungles and marshes. Disobeying orders, Admiral King (Wendell Corey) turns the Cosmos I around, fully realizing that eighteen years will have passed on the planet be­ fore he and his crew arrive there. Shortly after the Cosmos I finally lands, Centaurian passenger Linda (HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI’S Irene Tsu) secretly dis­ embarks and encounters Tang (QCJINCY’s Robert Ito), who is the now-adult offspring of a Cosmos III officer and his Centaurian lover. While the search party falls prey to some deadly mishaps, Linda and Tang fall in love but an active volcano poses a threat to everyone.

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