The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Four part Decameron rip off with beautiful music and some beastly direction. None of the segments are entirely satisfactory with most changing course halfway through and some almost coming to a halt but the music helps carry us through. First part concerns a slave girl and some role reversal reminiscent of Venus in Furs but far too crass and made up for only by fine nudity.Second part concerns animals and sex and starts predictably with a couple cavorting in a barn with the sound of horses in the background but does develop into a very strange piece with the naked heroine sharing a stark cell with some dogs and a horse. A promising section entitled, The Whipping is more about a fat old male teacher rapping boy's bloody knuckles which seems to create a desire for such activity combines with spying on his mother. The final part is the best and concerns a girl on her final day and night before her wedding. Rather good scene with her being fitted for her dress by an over keen seamstress that moves into a scene with the young woman seeking guidance from a young man she used to play doctors with as a child. Always good to look at and listen to with that lovely music, just a shame more attention could not have been given to having the short tales be more consistent and flow more smoothly.