L’Oeuvre au noir (1988)

L’Oeuvre au noir is a French period drama film first released in 1988, directed by André Delvaux.  The film is based on a novel by Marguerite Yourcenar and stars Gian Maria Volontè, Sami Frey, Jacques Lippe, Anna Karina and Philippe Léotard.  It has also been released under the title: The Abyss.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


In the 1500s, a Belgian doctor and alchemist, Zenon, has spent the last 20 years travelling across Europe.  His radical theories have earned him the reputation of a heretic and, fearing the Spanish Inquisition, he assumes a new identity when he returns to his native Brugge.  Unfortunately, his past soon catches up with him.

This sombre adaptation of Marguerite Yourcenar’s acclaimed literary work was directed by the acclaimed Belgian film-maker André Delvaux.  Visually, the film is impressive and it boasts an excellent cast, but for all its excellent production values it is a heavy and somewhat laboured affair.  Delvaux’s apparent obsession with mood and detail prevents him from creating a film that is coherent and engaging, although he does succeed in evoking something of the dark poetry and intimacy of Yourcenar’s novel.

© James Travers 1999

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This remarkable film by André Delvaux succeeds in recreating the dark environment in the social, political and religious aspects of Europe of the XVI century with a strong Bruegel painting style.  Zénon Ligre comes back to his birth place trying to escape from persecution in France.  To the city of Bruges already under the Spanish rule. He is a scientist of the Renaissance, a physician who also touched on alchemy, physics and philosophy. His writings were indexed and burnt in France.  He feels more and more at a loss and finally underwent a harsh trial from which he ultimately decided the issue.  The roman by Marguerite Yourcenar is much longer and Delvaux had to make hard choices.  Gian Maria Volonté’s character as Zénon is very striking.
José Raymond Herrera  (Montreal, Canada) 

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