Benjamin ou les Mémoires d'un puceau (1968)
Directed by Michel Deville

Film Review

Of all Michel Deville's films, Benjamin ou les Mémoires d'un puceau is the one that most readily evokes the spirit of the era in which it was made, on the eve of that momentous spring of 1968. The film was not only a hit with the critics (it won the prestigious Prix Louis-Delluc in 1967), it was also phenomenally successful with the French public, attracting an audience of just over 2.5 million.  In exuberant style, the film concludes the first phase of Deville's career as a filmmaker, the last in a series of light-hearted comedies which began with his first hit Ce soir ou jamais (1961).  From this point on, Deville's work would become increasingly dark and critical in tone, with none of the sunny insouciance that brightens his early work.

Working with his long-term collaborator Nina Companéez, Deville crafts a libertine fairytale that has about it the elegance, playfulness and subtle subversiveness of a Beaumarchais play from the 18th century, the decadent era in which the film is set.  The warm pastel shades of the luxuriant costumes and set interiors are in perfect harmony with the resplendent greens of the summery garden exteriors, beautifully photographed by Ghislain Cloquet in a way that immediately instils in the spectator a sense of well-being.  Benjamin ou les Mémoires d'un puceau is as much a treat for the soul as it is for the eyes - a sensual, feel-good piece that is effortlessly enchanting.  It is like a Jacques Demy musical without the music.

For what would be his most ambitious film, Deville assembled a glittering ensemble of talent which adds to the film's enjoyment value and doubtless contributed to the film's popularity.  Michèle Morgan, an icon of French cinema in the 1930s and 40s, has never looked more beautiful, nor more tragic and alluring, as she does here, the queen (or rather Countess) of a fairytale palace who pines for a love that can never be hers.  The rogue she has had the misfortune to fall for is none other than Michel Piccoli, the perfect choice of actor to personify the aristocratic debauchery of the 18th century.  At the other end of the moral spectrum, Pierre Clémenti brings the requisite innocence and gauche charm to his portrayal of the titular doe-eyed Benjamin, constantly amusing as he ambles through a latterday Garden of Eden with a fixed expression of bewilderment on his face, unsure what to make of the swarm of buxom Eves who keep thrusting apples and other fruit in his direction. 

Of these exquisite Eves the most eye-catching is Catherine Deneuve, the archetypal ice princess whose unrivalled beauty has lured many a fictional hero to his doom.  When she first appears in this film, Deneuve is seen, apparently imprisoned, in a large bird cage which serves to protect her from her lusting admirers.  In truth, her character turns out to be the most liberated, whereas the men who chase after her are the ones who are trapped, slaves to their primal passions.  Like its central protagonist, Benjamin ou les Mémoires d'un puceau proves to be not quite so pure and innocent as it first seems.  Beneath the colouful whimsy and tasteful bedroom chicanery there is an obvious pro-feminist agenda.  It is, after all, a woman who gets to write the last entry in Benjamin's 'diary of a virgin'...

Film Synopsis

France, 1750.  Benjamin has spent his entire childhood and early adolescence in the sole company of his tutor Camille.  Now that he is 17, he must go to live with his aunt and uncle, two wealthy aristocrats, at the château de Valandry.  When he arrives at his aunt's estate, Benjamin is as pure as a boy of his age can be and his relatives' libertine lifestyle comes as a surprise to him.  Fortunately for him, there is an abundance of attractive young women who are more than willing to help him make the transition from boyhood to manhood.  After all, it is the duty of those who know to teach those who know not.  It amuses Benjamin that his uncle should throw over his wife and go chasing after a younger woman, Anne.  Amid the wild revelry of a party, Anne offers herself to Benjamin to complete his initiation in the ways of love - before she takes the count as her husband.