Mais ne nous deliverez pas du mal

French director Joel Seria caused a big stir with Don't Deliver Us From Evil (Mais ne nous delivrez pas du mal, 1971), a cinematic precursor to Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (1994). Both films were based on the 1954 New Zealand murder case of Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme that involved the two girls obsession with each other and a magical "Fourth Kingdom."When Pauline's mother tried to separate the two, they led her down a garden path, distracted her, and killed her with a brick wrapped in a sock. Jackson's film is a faithful rendition of events and even used groundbreaking CGI to recreate the Fourth Kingdom (thus setting the stage for New Zealand as a studio for the ultimate fantasy epic of the Lord of the Rings trilogy). Seria's film is only loosely based on the Parker-Hulme case, but when he read about it in the newspapers in the 1950's it stuck with him because he could remember what it was like to feel imprisoned by a parental figure and wanting to lash out. In his case, however, he'd been forced to go to a religious school, fought with his father, and he left home when he was 17. Perhaps for this reason the two girls in Seria's film are surrounded by an entirely different context, with the Fourth Kindgom being replaced by a world of transgressive acts and thoughts that rebel at every turn against the catholic symbols that pepper the film. Things start off in a private girls' school run by nuns where we meet Anne and Lore, two young teenage vixens (played by Jeanne Goupil and Catherine Wagener, who were 20 and 19 respectively, but certainly look the younger parts). Anne and Lore are best friends who share an interest in erotica and mischief, but the rebellious streak becomes purposefully malicious with the nastiness ratcheting itself up until their criminal bonding reaches its climactic finale. This was Goupil's first film, hired by Seria after just one reading thanks to a youthful and raw way she had of speaking. Something else must have attracted Seria to Goupil too, as evidenced by the fact that they both are still a happy couple all these decades later and mention that one of the best things to come of that film was their relationship. Don't Deliver Us From Evil marks Joel Seria's directorial debut, and he shows an assured visual style that slowly builds on the discomfort of the viewer and climaxes with a moment that fuses the lyrical with the shocking in a memorable moment that has lost none of its power. The making of the film was hampered by the fact that"In France we have to send scripts to the National Cinema Centre."This institution wrote back to let him know that if filmed it would be banned, so the filmmakers couldn't get money from distributors and the first-time director found himself scrounging finances from personal sources. Luckily, his previous stints on stage and as an actor helped connect him to an experienced cast and crew (his lead actress notwithstanding). When the film was finally released, the National Cinema Centre remained true to its word and banned the film, as the director remembers,"completely for export and in France. We couldn't even sell it overseas during that time. It was completely banned for eight months. It was finally allowed through after I agreed to make some small cuts. I cut a few seconds and pretended that I agreed with them." Mondo Macabro's dvd of Don't Deliver Us From Evil presents the film, uncut, in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio and the Eastmancolor source material still looks good despite some mild speckles and other artifacts of age. Special Features include: Hellish Creatures: Paul Buck on the Movie (Buck is a British crime expert, 12 minutes). Interview: Director - Joel Seria, Settling the Score (15 minutes). Interview: Star – Jeanne Goupil, The Devil's Advocate (12 minutes). About the Film (an informative essay by Pete Tombs). Remaining items include an Art Gallery, Disc Credits, and More from Mondo Macabro (previews). For more information about Don't Deliver Us From Evil, visit Mondo Macabro. To order Don't Deliver Us From Evil, go to TCM Shopping. by Pablo Kjolseth