This remarkable short documentary stands like a monumental judgement on the human race, and how we, as the supposedly superior species are, at heart, cold and indifferent to the suffering and fate of other sentient beings with whom we share the planet. Franju, with detached simplicity, makes us look at what most of us prefer to either not see or even think about - the precise process by which living animals are converted into food for us to eat. Not only does the film show the plight of creatures, but it also shows the dehumanising effect this work has on the slaughterers for whom slitting the throat of a sheep, or shooting a captive bolt pistol into the forehead of a magnificent horse, has become a routine assignment of little consequence or gravity. I first saw this film in 1952, and went in a carnivore, and came out a vegetarian, and have remained one ever since because of it. Such is the power of this objective and powerful documentary. All too often in life we depend upon others to do our dirty work for us so that we can remain "pure souled" and unsullied by such barbaric degradation, but we cannot look away forever, and whilst Franju doesn't preach, (there is very little commentary, and what there is merely explains what's happening), he makes us see with our own eyes the endless convey-belt parade of slaughter and accompanying horror. Didactic cinema at its most dynamic and memorable, and the true precursor of "animal liberation".
Review of Blood of the Beasts
