It wasn't all aches and pains: I had the Marquis de Sade for company

In the form of Jesus Franco's movie Justine.

For connoisseurs of bad taste, I have to say, this movie is a must. Appallingly acted, ridiculously 'titillating,' and wonderful for its clear failure to achieve whatever goals it set for itself (it's actually quite difficult to know what those goals are, yet the viewer can still tell that they haven't been reached).

The movie features plenty of shots of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter and of Gaudi architecture, which I enjoyed, but best of all is the interview with the director, which comes as a bonus item. He describes with some disappointment the challenges he encountered during filming, including the imposition of lead actress Romina Power (Tyrone's daughter) on him (she really is useless), the fact that Jack Palance was drunk throughout shooting (his performance is so over-the-top you're only sad that he never tells Justine "You're my best mate, you are"), and the fact that Klaus Kinski only appeared for two half-day shoots - and he was playing the Marquis de Sade!

Add to that the fact that they were filming in General Franco's fascist Spain and therefore constantly trying to avoid the censors ("If the film had been made in Spanish rather than Italian and English, we'd have all been in prison," says the director at one point) and you can understand why titillation is about as good as you're going to get from this Sade.

Still, it helped me while away Monday afternoon along with the LemSip.