Under the spell of ecstasy

Movie
German title	Under the spell of ecstasy
Original title	Verse l'extase
Country of production	France
original language	French
Publishing year	1960
length	86 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	René Wheeler
script	Maurice Clavel Charles Spaak
production	Georges Glass
music	Paul Misraki
camera	Christian Matras
cut	Renée Lichtig
occupation
Pascale Petit : Catherine Giani Esposito : Jérôme Serge Sauvion : Jacques Michel Ardan : Monsieur Bègue Lysiane Rey : Madame Bègue France Asselin : A citizen Nelly Borgeaud : Odette Michel Etcheverry : Father Bruno Geneviève Kervine : Anne-Marie Jacques Marin : The butcher Monique Mélinand : Madame Schultz Hugues Wanner : Monsieur Schultz Marie-Claude Poirier : Jeannette Malka Ribowska : Hassibah Liliane Patrick : Stewardess

Under the spell of ecstasy (original title: Vers l'extase ) is a French film drama in black and white by René Wheeler . The screenplay was written by Maurice Clavel . It is based on the novel "L'etrangère dans les portes" by Madeleine Alleins . The main roles are occupied by Pascale Petit and Giani Esposito . The work had its world premiere on July 8, 1960 in France. In the Federal Republic of Germany the film was first released on August 5, 1960.

The exterior shots were taken in the Moroccan cities of Casablanca and Rabat .

action

After the happily spent honeymoon , everyday life has caught up with Catherine and her husband Jérôme again. The sensitive Catherine has trouble finding her way around. Her husband seems to be becoming increasingly stranger to her, and her mother-in-law annoys her with her advice. One day she discovers a Muslim quietly praying in the noisy streets of Casablanca. It happens to Catherine that this man must be a happy person, turned away from the earthly and living in peace with himself. In her mental labyrinth she looks for a way out, which she believes she can find through a passion of service.

In Bab-el-Oued, Catherine found a job as a maid for the Bègue couple. But now begins for her a time of humiliation and humiliation, which culminates in the fact that she falls into an erotic relationship of dependence on her employer. With psychological masochism, she endures all torments. One day she longs to confess what she has done to a clergyman. Father Bruno, who overhears her in the confessional, advises her to go to a convent. But the girl shrinks from that. At least she is now pulling herself off to leave the Bègues house.

In Jeannette Catherine finds a "friend" who has also escaped from her employers. But Jeannette only shamelessly exploits Catherine for her own purposes. Soon Jeannette can no longer hide the fact that she is pregnant. Catherine takes good care of her roommate. However, when she was at the end of her strength, she again confided in Father Bruno. This time she tells him her whole story, including her marriage to Jérôme. And this time the clergyman manages to show the battered girl the way to inner peace. She returns ruefully to her husband.

criticism

The lexicon of international film draws the following conclusion: "A difficult, somewhat constructed and not entirely convincing« problem film »."

source

• Program for the film: Das Neue Film-Programm , published by the Heinrich Klemmer company of the same name, Mannheim, without a number

Web links

• Under the spell of ecstasy in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lexicon of international films, rororo-Taschenbuch No. 6322 from 1988, p. 1749.