Love Rites
France 1987

France 1987, “Cérémonie d’amour” (original title), 100 min, colour, French dir Walerian Borowczyk sc  Walerian Borowczyk, André Pieyre de Mandiargues based on a novel cam Gérard Monceau, Jean-Paul Sergent, Michel Zolat mus Jean-Paul Imbert cast  Marina Pierro, Mathieu Carrière, Josy Bernard  prod Philippe Guez, Alain Sarde

Borowczyk’s final feature returns with a vengeance to a signature theme—emasculation. Vain clothing buyer Hugo (Mathieu Carrière) meets beautiful Myriam (Marina Pierro) on the Metro and pursues her, discovering to his delight that she’s a prostitute. The crafty Myriam, of course, has more in mind for their encounter than smug Hugo bargained for. Though perhaps less graphic than Borowczyk’s best-known works, Love Rites nevertheless turns the sexual tables with perverse exactitude.