Libido

LIBIDO

Christian Coreau is a young man of twenty-four, sole heir to the enormous fortune left him by his father, George, who had murdered, in a sexual raptus, his lover and then committed suicide, jumping into the sea from the villa’s cliff.
This terrible event which happened when Christian was but a child has left a deep sign on the boy and he lives in the constant dread that he may have inherited his father’s madness. These fears have made of Christian an introvert where his relations with women are concerned, because he believes that every sign of attraction towardswomen might possibly be the symptoms of future violence. Nevertheless, Christian has married Eileen. A beautiful woman some years older than he, and their marriage seems, if not happy, at least a serene one. Eileen is a strange beauty, a little cold and even unfriendly at times and her relations with her husband are based essentially on affectionate politeness. Christian is rich but he cannnot as yet dispose of his wealth, owing to his father’s will which prescribes that he will take full possession of his inheritance on his twentyfifth birthday. Up till that moment, the fortune is administered by a friend of his father’s, a certain Paul Benoit who also acts as Christian’s guardian. Paul is the type of a man whom it is difficult to put into any one category: around fifty but still youthful, he always seems to have his ward’s interests at heart but nevertheless, at times he is over aware of the fact that Christian’s madness or death would change his momentary administration of that wealth into his permanent property.
Paul has married a few months earlier a beautiful girl, much younger that he: Brigitte. She is a very sexy wonderful girl, a modern type, who is always in the clouds carrying a walkie-talkie with her everywhere. She treats Paul sometimes with mischievous and sometimes with childish coquetry. Paul willingly accepts her whims, treating her more like a child than a woman.
Our story begins when a few days before Christian’s twentyfifth birthday, Christian, Eileen, Brigitte and Paul, while inspecting his ward’s estate, come upon the villa where Christian’s father killed his lover and then threw himself from the top of a cliff into the underlying sea. It’s a strange villa, better known as “Mirrors Villa”, because it has one room completely covered with mirrors and in the middle there’s a bed resembling an altar. It was in this room that the Christian’s father killed his lover and it was from this room that Christian, then a small boy, saw his father come out in a fit of madness, covered in blood.
That day long ago, Christian had been playing with a robot toy : the talking cricket with a carillon sounding a chilly music.
The first hint of trouble, which throws a shadow on Christian’s peace of mind is, when on his return to that house, he hears that chilly music in the distance, coming from an undefined spot in the big villa and he finds his old robot toy perfectly working in his father’s office. Christian know that only Paul knows about his old toy.
Of course all Christian’s suspicions fall on Paul, the only person who would have all to gain if he went insane or was thought to be mad.
He even begins to suspect that Christian has brought the irresistible sexy Brigitte to the villa for the sole purpose of provoking sexual obsession in him. And in fact, Brigitte, who continually shows her perfect body to everyone, troubles Christian up to the point where one evening he spies her while she is making love with her husband and only manages to control himself by digginghis nails into his own hands. He runs away deranged whispering “Not like my father!”.
Something else happens which might well make Christian lose his mind: his dead father’s presence. In that villa, which is so full of his memories, he seems to come alive again. At first there are only vague indications, followed by more distinct signs, voice, footprints, and finally the momentary horrifying vision of a man who looks like George Ford standing up on the edge of the cliff. A phantom, hallucination or reality? Or a trick to get Christian mad?
A trick by whom?
After all, George Ford’s body was never fished out. Christian controls himself and comes to a conclusion which saves him from madness: the man he has seen on the cliff is Paul, who has disguised himself like that to try unbChristiance his mind.
Christian has always found refuge and comfort in Eileen, but strange suspicious start to pile against her also, which lead Christian to a terrible and painful idea: Paul and his wife are lovers and he thinks he has found the proof of this, when, one afternoon, he sees them together coming out of a small hotel in the nearby village.
Desperation takes the place of Christian’ inhibitions: he goes back to the villa, and seeing the exciting half-naked Brigitte, decides to avenge himself on her trying to rape her. But Paul bursts in and after a violent argument we hear Eileen’s explanation. Wearily the woman tells her husband the truth: it has always been Christian to dress up as his father. He even went as far as to go into her room and rape her.
Eileen had taken Paul into her confidence and together they had sent for a psychiatrist from Boston. Eileen had given him a rendez-vous in the hotel from which he saw them come out together. The doctor had not still come, but should be arriving the next day: the Christian’s twentyfifth birthday. Eileen shows to Christian the scars he made on her body. In the light of this, everything seems to fit into a pattern and Christian can no longer refuse to accept the truth which Eileen has been obliged to reveal to him. He collapses and is put to his bed and given some tranquillizers.
When he wakes up, he’s no longer in his own room but in Eileen’s, in Eileen’s bed and sheets are covered with blood. With infinite horror Christian realizes the dreadful truth: his wife is lying dead at the bottom of the bed. During one of his fits, which he cEileenot remember, he must have killed her.
On hearing his hysterical shouts, Brigitte, who was putting twenty five candles on a big pie, rushes in. She says Paul is not in the house, he went to the hotel to bring the psychiatrist and she manages to convince Christian to lock himself in his room. In a little while, Christian should be coming back with the doctor.
Paul in the meantime, at the hotel, has just discovered that Eileen never called the doctor. He rushes to the villa, his ideas confused: why Eileen has lied? What is happening to his dear Brigitte in his absence?
When Christian arrives, he finds no one there. All he hears is the cold, far, metallic sounding music of the talking cricket. It seems playing from outside.
He is afraid for Brigitte. He runs to look for her on the cliff, calling her. He stops on the edge, looking around. Two woman’s hands at his back push him over the cliff. Paul, yelling, get squashed on the rocks wet by waves. On the edge stays Brigitte with her walkie-talkie on.
Christian, hearing Paul’s shout, goes out of his bedroom and runs looking for Brigitte. He goes into the room of mirrors and abruptly sees Eileen staring at him, lifelessly, her face covered in blood, reflected manifold times in the mirrors. Christian collapses to the
floor unconscious.
Brigitte comes back into the villa and the two women meet at the top of the stairs. Eileen is carrying the Christian’s birthday pie with twenty-five lit up candles: together they blow out the candles and kiss each other. Only now we comprehend the devilish plot and its two lesbian authors. The two women are in league and have now become the owners of the Ford’s fortune. But, sharing the pie, Eileen points out her friend that, as the widow, she’s the only one really entitled to everything. Of courseshe will give to the little Brigitte a little piece of pie...
Sighingly and pulling a face as a baby, Brigitte points a gun at Eileen: after all Eileen is dead and Christian is ready to swear he killed her. Brigitte shoots killing Eileen, then turns on her walkie-talkie and carelessly steps over the corpse, eating a piece of pie, dirting her nose by whipped cream.
But destiny has been holding one of its tricks in store for Brigitte too: everything has been based on Christian’s being made to pass as insane, but the young man now has really lost his mind.
Suddenly he treacherously grabs Brigitte from the back and ties her on the bed in the middle of the room of mirrors. He rapes her as he saw his father did, then, completely deranged, he goes out walking away, caressing his talking cricket, on the edge of the cliff.
Christian’s yell as he falls over the cliff rings out, followed by Brigitte’s who is destined to die of hunger watching her agony in the mirrors.
Balanced on a rock, the talking cricket, unique survivor, goes on playing its chilly music.

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