Immoral Tales (Blu-ray/DVD)

Walerian Borowczyk’s first explicitly erotic feature, Immoral Tales presents a veritable cavalcade of depravity: cosmic fellatio, transcendental masturbation, blood-drenched lesbianism and papal incest.

It tells four stories, each delving back further in time, as if to suggest that the same issues recur constantly throughout human civilization, whether involving notorious historical figures like Lucrezia Borgia and Erzsébet Báthory, or present-day teenagers.

Capitalising on the relaxation of censorship laws, Immoral Tales would transform Borowczyk’s image from brilliant but obscure avant-garde artist to one of Europe’s most confrontational filmmakers when it came to trampling on sexual taboos.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
– New high definition digital transfers of two versions of the feature, the familiar four-part edition and the original five-part conception including the short film The Beast of Gévaudan (which later became the feature The Beast)
– Uncompressed Mono 2.0 PCM Audio
– Optional English subtitles
– Introduction by Borowczyk expert Daniel Bird
– Love Reveals Itself, a new interview programme featuring production manager Dominique Duvergé-Ségrétin and cinematographer Noël Véry
– Obscure Pleasures: A Portrait of Walerian Borowczyk, a newly-edited archival interview in which the filmmaker discusses painting, cinema and sex
– Blow Ups, a visual essay by Daniel Bird about Borowczyk’s works on paper
– Theatrical trailer
– Reversible sleeve featuring Borowczyk’s own original poster design
– Illustrated booklet containing new writing on the film by by Daniel Bird and an archive piece by Philip Strick

ADULTS ONLY