Don Siegel directs The Beguiled as a Jacobean revenge tragedy. It really is mostly about women and their repressed sexual desires which are awakened when they come across John McBurney (Clint Eastwood) an injured Union soldier who is brought to a Confederate girl's school.
The headmistress, Miss Martha (Geraldine Page) does not notify the local militia of his presence. Instead her assistant Edwina (Elizabeth Hartman) their black servant Hallie (Mae Mercer) and the teenage school girls treat his wounds and fall for his rugged looks.
McBurney a deserter knows how to charm his way to their hearts by deceit, only Hallie sees through him. Once his philandering is discovered Miss Martha plots brutal revenge as McBurney finds out about her lurid past.
The Beguiled has attracted a cult reputation over the years. It is not a typical Eastwood western, as a film set in the civil war it is lot less about nobility. It has a Gothic anti hero who exploits the women's sexual yearnings.
The Beguiled is a slow moody film with aspects of art house 1960s counterculture cinema. There are multiple exposures, quick flashbacks and dream sequences.
The headmistress, Miss Martha (Geraldine Page) does not notify the local militia of his presence. Instead her assistant Edwina (Elizabeth Hartman) their black servant Hallie (Mae Mercer) and the teenage school girls treat his wounds and fall for his rugged looks.
McBurney a deserter knows how to charm his way to their hearts by deceit, only Hallie sees through him. Once his philandering is discovered Miss Martha plots brutal revenge as McBurney finds out about her lurid past.
The Beguiled has attracted a cult reputation over the years. It is not a typical Eastwood western, as a film set in the civil war it is lot less about nobility. It has a Gothic anti hero who exploits the women's sexual yearnings.
The Beguiled is a slow moody film with aspects of art house 1960s counterculture cinema. There are multiple exposures, quick flashbacks and dream sequences.