There's not much Poe here, except his name. Roger Corman did a better job of sticking to the original stories than this trio of "stellar" directors: Vadim, Malle, and Fellini.
In the spirit of the indulgent 60s, these three auteurs twisted Poe into the shape of their own imagination, rewriting and "sexing up" the stories to appeal to the pompous art-house crowd. There are some beautiful locations and striking visuals, to be sure...plus long, long stretches of boredom (Jane Fonda playing with a horse, Terence Stamp driving drunk). The music is also dated and laughable, especially Nino Rota's pop dreck under the Fellini segment.
Trivia: be on the lookout for Andreas Voutsinas as a bearded courtier in the Vadim segment. He was Jane Fonda's acting coach, but best-known to American audiences as the creepy Carmen Ghia in Mel Brooks's original "The Producers" (released the same year as this film).
In the spirit of the indulgent 60s, these three auteurs twisted Poe into the shape of their own imagination, rewriting and "sexing up" the stories to appeal to the pompous art-house crowd. There are some beautiful locations and striking visuals, to be sure...plus long, long stretches of boredom (Jane Fonda playing with a horse, Terence Stamp driving drunk). The music is also dated and laughable, especially Nino Rota's pop dreck under the Fellini segment.
Trivia: be on the lookout for Andreas Voutsinas as a bearded courtier in the Vadim segment. He was Jane Fonda's acting coach, but best-known to American audiences as the creepy Carmen Ghia in Mel Brooks's original "The Producers" (released the same year as this film).