The Beguiled (1971)

	Also Known As: Les Proies (French), Betrogen (German)
	Year of first release: 1971
	Director: Donald Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry)
	Actors: Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for me, Gran Torino), Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Thriller, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 21.06.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Yankee soldier John McBurney (Eastwood) is found half-dead by the youngest occupant of a school for girls. They will take care of him while the civil war rages on around them. Special relationships will develop.
Review: One of the earliest movies with Clint Eastwood that is not a Western. This career change may have disoriented the distributors of the movie, by looking at the variety of the posters that were produced over the years (see at the end of this post), some trying to wrongfully sell is as a Western with an armed Clint, some other being fair enough to show the Southern flag and placing the movie correctly in context, some insisting too much on the Romance and finally a few really fair to the topic of a wounded soldier surrounded by women that lived in isolation. There is not so much action in this movie, more a display of psychology between the different characters, and how the soldier tries to take advantage of the situation. And once all the elements are in place I was quite shocked by the turn of events, filmed with utter realism. It gave me shivers. A movie that doesn't hesitate pushing the limits of what was allowed to be shown in the early 70's, and with the Master eye of director Don Siegel.
Rating: 8 /10