The Balcony (1963)

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Siskoid
Back in 50s, Jean Genet's provocative, anti-establishment plays were deliberately designed to shock. When adapted to film in the early 60s, these must still have been pretty outrageous. Though that shock may be gone, they still pack a punch and remain relevant today. Case in point, 1963's adaptation of The Balcony, a rancidly funny tale set in a bordello that specializes in power fantasies, run by the great Shelley Winters. Rebellion rages outside, the chief of police (the great Peter Falk) rages inside, and costumed fetishists are sent to impersonate dead leaders lest the people side with the rioters - a bishop, a general and a chief justice. Power as illusion. Power as a function of title and not ability. Power as mere appearance. Power as manipulation, as hypocrisy. Power as kink and kink as power. Feminine power too, the power to seduce and to shame. So while a man licking a dominatrix's shoe is no longer in the realm of the shocking, what the play/film has to say about the people shouting at us from the balcony still hits hard. 1 year 11 months ago