THE VIRGIN’S BED / LE LIT DE LA VIERGE

Directed by Philippe Garrel

1969 / 95min

In May 1968, Garrel joined his friends on the barricades of Paris, and THE VIRGIN’S BED, begun just a few months later, echoes with that period’s rebellious spirit. Clémenti plays a Christ reluctant to assume his earthly mission. As the Virgin Mary, Zouzou attempts to reconcile him with his duty. But Garrel invokes the Christian narrative only to reject a strict retelling of that story. Made without a script and under the influence of LSD, THE VIRGIN’S BED is minimally concerned with traditional religion. With an episodic and non-chronological narrative, Garrel’s film reminds us of the contestatory attitude of the ’68 generation for whom Jesus was a hippie avant la lettre.