Don Juan '73 (1973) from Tuna

Tuna's comments in white

Don Juan (1973) is the last feature film starring Brigitte Bardot. She rejoined Roger Vadim to make her last film. 

The good news? Full frontal from Bardot and Jane Birkin, and long clearly lit breast shots from at least 3 unknowns. The film is technically competent, and the DVD transfer is not bad.

The bad news? The film well and truly sucks. Seems Bardot is Don Juan reincarnate. Not only does she seduce every man she can, but she is not happy unless she also destroys them. The men include a champion archer/govt official/professor, a singer, a friend's husband, and her cousin, the priest.

Enjoy the images, and take a pass on the film.  

Scoop's comments in yellow

Brigitte was nearly 40 when she made this film, and retained her girlish figure, but her eyes and especially her hands betrayed her age. I suppose she looked at herself in this movie and decided that she had spent enough time before the lens. But her body looks terrific. How many 40 year olds would do a full-on butt shot?

Bardot must hold some kind of cinema record, if you could find a way to word it properly - something like "biggest film star who was never in anything genuinely worth watching except for her presence". Many of her films are not worth watching despite her presence. It seems like almost all Bardot films are a struggle to stay awake until she gets naked.
Hey, this one is pretty good for a Roger Vadim movie! Vadim was the John Derek of his own time - charming guy - slept with the most beautiful women of the day - talked his way into a film directing career, but could barely remove the lenscap. Didn't know how to end a scene, didn't know how to transition between scenes, and his films are usually edited poorly.

NUDITY REPORT
see main commentary

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Widescreen anamorphic, 1.66:1

  • no major features

Like Derek, Vadim filled his films with beautiful women in various stages of undress. Unlike Derek, Vadim did have a certain artistic eye. His set design is usually colorful and imaginative, and his imagery can be exceptionally interesting, if impenetrable. The final scene of this movie has Bardot burning to death inside an all-white house which seems to be isolated in a desert, or something, so that there is essentially no color in the scenes except off-white. Meanwhile, the guy who starts the fire is standing alone among the nearby dunes when a group of bulldozers comes along and starts to dump sand on top of him.

Whatever the hell that is supposed to mean.

But it does look cool.

The Critics Vote

  • Maltin 1.5/4.

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 4.8 
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a D+.

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