Justine or the Misfortunes of Virtue is Jess Franco’s 1969 adaption of the Marquis De Sade’s 1791 novel of the same name. The film stars Romina Power (Go-Go Tales, Mezzanotte d’amore and Murder by Music) as Justine, alongside Franco favourite Maria Rohm (The Bloody Judge, Eugenie and Venus in Furs) as her sister, Juliette. 

After hearing news that their father has fled the country in disgrace and their mother has died, the two girls are informed that there is no longer any provision for them to continue their education at the convent and they must leave the sanctity of its protective walls. Each girl is given 100 crowns to help them financially and is cast out into a world, of which, they have little knowledge. 

Juliette finds solace in the welcoming arms of Madame De Buisson’s brothel (Carmen De Lirio, Operation Mata Hari, The Evil Forest and  la Pecadora), but the chaste Justine decides to seek residence elsewhere. After she is conned out of her money by a Priest, she is given accommodation and a job as a maid. One of the tenants, Monsieur Desroches (Gustavo Re, Summertime Killer, Blackie the Pirate and The Man in Istanbul), a lecherous old pervert makes advances towards Justine which are rebuked. He then accuses her of stealing his jewel and she is sentenced to death for a crime she is not guilty of. The two girls paths continue to diverge as Juliette leaves a life of prostitution to marry a rich nobleman, while Justine encounters an ever-increasing list of maladies that lead her down a path of ruin and depravity. The legendary Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu, Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo) stars as the unhinged, Marquis De Sade, who acts as a sort of narrator, appearing in vignettes between each section of the story to help advance this twisted morality tale.

Justine has always been one of my favourite Franco movies, it had a decent budget for the time and Franco used it to create a solid literate sexploitation movie. It features a lot of the classic Franco tropes, out-of-focus camera shots, odd moments of farce, and a cast of familiar faces to Francophiles and Eurotrash fans alike (as well as Maria Rohm and Klaus Kinski, we see Rosalba Neri, Howard Vernon, Rosemary Dexter and Sylva Koscina). However, it looks beautiful, the cinematography, sets and the costumes are stunning, and the performances are all very solid. There is also a decidedly odd appearance from Hollywood legend, Jack Palance (Shane, Che and Hawk the Slayer) as Brother Antonin. This one is fairly tame by Franco’s standard, those seeking the gore and explicit sex with which he has become synonymous may find little of interest here, but fans of Franco’s style will love it.

This Blu-ray from Artus Films, features a nice-looking print of the movie, in both English language and French. As well as bonus materials including a presentation by Stéphane du Mesnildot, a slideshow of photographs and the film’s trailer. There is also a second disc, featuring the movie on DVD. The whole thing comes packaged in a rather lovely digipak. This is my first encounter with an Artus Films release, and I have to admit that I am quite impressed with the due care and attention they have lavished on Justine and I hope further releases will continue to impress.