Justine Review from TetroVideo!
Many years ago, whilst at college, I avidly read the works of Marquis De Sade and found the world wonderfully claustrophobic, filled with many characters that would bleed or would thrive off the blood of that person. His works are dark, but altogether erotic to the correct reader. In times of debauchery and boredom, the rich looked at those below as worthless, so they could be used for amusement and a bullseye for their fantasies. They existed, as do they today, and De Sade was the original creator of the extreme.
However, De Sade is a tricky kind of source material to bring to the screen. Many have tried. Jesus Franco of course many times, and the famous Quills, where Kate Winslett was whipped for real (yeah, she reported it hurt a lot) but rather than look at the overall realm, so many concentrate on just one aspect — the sadism.
I first came across the works of Alex Hernández courtesy of the gratuitous and wonderful XXX Dark Web (see review here) so when Severed Cinema Daddy, Chris Severed let me know about Justine, I looked forwards greatly to what awaited me and my Partner in Gore, Willow Brian.
What the viewer needs to understand is that Justine is a totally different view of De Sade’s work. It is so dark that it’s almost like the old ‘pea soup’ fogs of England, filled with the disturbing images you’d expect, but almost the smell of suffering.
This Domiziano Cristopharo production opens to a woman giving birth, whilst a narrative waxes lyrical about such things as “…nature has always required blood and violence to achieve pleasure.” All about existing and birth, this introduction, how man is in effect a God for bringing life. Hospital shots, in black and white, plus a ton of babies all over the place.
Justine is laid in a bed, badly beaten, talking to a female off screen. She begins to tell her story…
Standing before a man, stripping nude to his demand with tears in her eyes. Music plays, classical pieces. He adorns rubber gloves, then throws her to the floor, forcing gloved fingers down her throat, Mick Foley style, until she retches and vomits. Not very erotic, unless you like Lucifer Valentine pics, but very brilliantly shot.
God will show Justine all the horrors of the world. The man sits back and posed ugly, masturbates using the glove. You know what? Men really do look appalling and ugly whilst wanking. I mentioned this to Willow, who sat beside me gobsmacked by the gloved handshake, then she just stared at me bewildered by my comments.
Our man discusses with a bloke who has green teeth (cue yummy close-up mouth shots) how they will use Justine’s innocence and virginity as an experiment.
Next, she’s poised nude straddling his naked form whilst another woman totally and brutally flogs her buttocks without mercy until blood drips down her body into his waiting greedy mouth. Hope it isn’t going to have a 28 Days Later theme! Justine howls and cries, but then goes beyond the pain into that numb inner world as the beating continues.
Willow and I absolutely loved the choice of musical scores, some parts akin to those which play as a surgeon works in his zone tranquil and in concentration.
Speaking of which, our main antagonist used to be a surgeon, Dr. Rodin is his name. As we see, nowadays he prefers to mutilate the female body like Jack the Ripper. He even places a cigarette inside the destroyed vagina of a woman after he’s finished at one point.
Justine, meanwhile, is chained up. “Do you hate me?” he asks. She replies, “Yes!” He has no expression, “Do you want to kill me?” Justine tonelessly answers, “Yes.” Rodin wishes to be cruel, to corrupt her innocence. Their exchanges are remarkable, growing more deeper and richer as the film progresses. The power of description and language is dominant here. “You are pure in good, as I am pure in evil!“
“It’s you!” laughed Willow as his companion in pain leers like a pervert whilst hiding behind a balaclava. Yes, I have a balaclava, so I’m sure she only meant that and didn’t compare me to a leering pervert at all.
We are witness to many depravities. Justine suffers, her pain is legendary. Rodin’s inventive sadisms also spread to the body of his mother at one point, concluding in him trying to force Justine to slay her. She cannot, instead Mr. Balaclava obliges. Rodin bathes in the blood of his mother then fucks the lower half of her corpse, which has recently been separated from the top. His emotions spill. “Do you cry?” Justine asks. “Yes.” he explains why to her. Aside from sharing views of death and pain, he says, “Love, Justine. I have learnt that it is nothing.“
Don’t be fooled by the supposed end credits, for Justine continues onwards beyond and takes a whole new direction which is totally unexpected and passes into Alex’s prior work, Blood For Flesh (Sangre Para la Carne) (see review here). Justine is much more than pain and blood; it is an important classical work in crimson glory. Top marks to the brilliant inserts along the journey, including cartoons, it all loads more ammo into the weapon firing into your face.
The cast are astounding! So committed to this art, this painting of agonies. Dan Zapata as our title character deserves so much in her future, she is muted emotions, she is total transformation shown as a person. Enrique Diaz Duran as the unforgettable, Dr. Rodin, is sublime. Again, a powerful creation, it is no wonder that he is chosen to be in all the director’s films.
As I said, Justine is very important, way past extreme cinema and stands alone in the cold unforgiving storms of the world. Birth, maturity, suffering, death… what comes after pain and death? What is the experience like? Justine shows that Alex Hernández is a remarkable talent, a master at the craft. His film is far better than anything Marian Dora has put together because Justine exists for many reasons, one being to get inside you, make you think, linger for a time afterwards. De Sade was such a writer.
For the gore hunters, there is much to smile at. Intestines, gouging, stabbings, slicing, genitalia torment, cannibalism — it has all this and more. Justine truly is one of a kind and an atrocity exhibition on show for all who dare to observe.
Directed by: Alex Hernández
Written by: Alex Hernández, Juan Manuel Martínez
Produced by: Domiziano Cristopharo, Alex Hernández, Itai Guberman,
Cinematography by: Dante Belmont
Special Effects by: Edmar Fierros
Cast: Enrique Diaz Duran, Dan Zapata, Jacqueline Blanca Bribiesca, Juan Manuel Martinez, Marisela Plaza
Year: 2022
Country: Mexico
Language: Spanish (English subtitles)
Colour: Colour, Black & White
Runtime: 1h 21min
Studio: Queremos Ver Sangre, MyIndie Productions
Distributor: TetroVideo
