The Film:
When you mention the name Walerian Borowczyk to most film fanatics, the first film that is likely to pop into their head is the controversial The Beast, but Borowcyzk has done much more than the 'arty' erotic films he is most known for. In fact, he started off by becoming a leading animator in France during the fifties and early sixties before making his first ever live action feature film, Goto: Island Of Love.
Goto: Island Of Love is a very surreal film based on a small island called Goto, where all inhabitants live under the dictatorship of Goto III (Pierre Brasseur - The Girl From The Dead Sea, The Return Of Monte Critso). Goto III is married to the beautiful Glyssia (Ligia Branice - Winter Twilight, Behind Convent Walls) who manages to save a man from execution (Grozo played by Guy Saint-Jean) by letting him fight in a gladitorial fight to the death. After Grozo defeats his opponent, Glyssia has her husband give him a job as the Island's dog walker and fly catcher (yes, you read it correctly). Little do Goto and Glyssia know however, is that Grozo has plans to take over the throne of the island and make Glyssia his wife.
The film, although containing a small amount of nudity, gives us an insight into the films that were to come from Borowczyk. He also uses several moments of colour in the otherwise black and white film which is used to emphasize on some of the key moments. Personally, I've only previously seen The Beast and Emmanuelle 5 from Borowczyk, and found both of them to be pretty average. Goto is no exception. The film feels as though it was hastily put together and apart from the colour parts of the film reigniting my interest, I found that I wanted to go to sleep. If it had been cut down to about an hour rather than it's ninety minute runtime I would have maybe liked it more. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a poor film, just a bit dull and uninteresting for my tastes.
The DVD:
Video:
This is the first release I have seen from Cult Epics, and I am left with a slightly sour taste in my mouth. The colour scenes look extremely washed out and poor (even if they are rarely seen) and the black and white scenes seemed to be jumpy with a few scratches. It certainly isn't the worst picture ever, but I feel there is certainly some room for improvement. Subtitles are also present, but unfortunately burnt in. To me this doesn't have an effect as I don't understand anything but English, but for those not wanting to be able to view them, disappointment awaits.
Audio:
Cult Epics have provided us with the original track in French Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Apart from occasional and minor background hiss, the music and dialogue was clear and of a consistent level.
Extras:
Bonus Film - We start off the small amount of extras with an animated film directed by Borowczyk in 1959 called Les Astronautes (AKA The Astronaut). Quite an amusing piece, the film is about a small spaceship who joins forces with a medium sized spaceship to defeat a large spaceship only for the medium sized one to then turn and destroy the small one. Well worth a look.
Liner Notes - Inside the case with have a small 4 page booklet with a page for Borowczyk's biography and another page for the filmography. An interesting read and I was left wanting to read more.
Theatrical Trailer - A rather long trailer for the film.
