Eight women and me
So I went to Blockbuster last night looking for a French movie to practice my listening (the one facet of this language thing that’s sorely lacking for me), and I came home with a flick called 8 Femmes starring Catherine Deneuve. The DVD case made it sound like a quaint little murder mystery: a man is murdered in his bed, during a snowstorm, in his own home with his family present. So I pick it up, grab some sushi on the way home, and settle in to see if I can be entertained for the evening.
Dude! I was totally not prepared for the spectacle that followed. The eight women in his home (wife, two daughters, sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, two maids) get to play Mademoiselle Marple through two surreal hours of plot twists, back-stabbing, catty comments, and bizarrely placed torch songs. It was part Gosford Park, part Cop Rock, part Dynasty (remember Alexis and Crystal in the swimming pool?), and part What The Hell Was That?? Every character surprised me at least once, and several of the scenes made beer come out of my nose. At the end of the movie, I was like Donkey after the singing puppet kiosk: "Let’s do that again!"
My head is still spinning, but I'm going back to ride this one again.
Dude! I was totally not prepared for the spectacle that followed. The eight women in his home (wife, two daughters, sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, two maids) get to play Mademoiselle Marple through two surreal hours of plot twists, back-stabbing, catty comments, and bizarrely placed torch songs. It was part Gosford Park, part Cop Rock, part Dynasty (remember Alexis and Crystal in the swimming pool?), and part What The Hell Was That?? Every character surprised me at least once, and several of the scenes made beer come out of my nose. At the end of the movie, I was like Donkey after the singing puppet kiosk: "Let’s do that again!"
My head is still spinning, but I'm going back to ride this one again.
3 Comments:
Two other good recommendations:
Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face). It will freak your shit out.
Diabolique. It's a scary one.
Both very good. (I took a French Cinema course in college. French Film of the 50s and 60s. Seriously.)
By Jax Peach, at 10:58 AM
You're talking about Les Diabolique and not the movie that starred Sharon Stone, oui? I'll have to check them out... though that Billy Idol flick looks scary. If it keeps me awake at night, I'm calling you for comfort.
Dang, you got credit for that? Well, I can't complain. I got lit credits for a sci-fi/fantasy course. Yes, I read The Last Unicorn for credit. And that's why I'm not a high-powered executive somewhere.
By Ben, at 3:59 PM
Yes. Stay away from Sharon Stone at all costs.
I can't hear that Billy Idol song without being freaked out.
Yeah, they're both "scary" but only Diabolique was billed as a "horror" movie, I thought. I thought Les Yeux Sans Visage was just billed as some freaky shit. That's the category I'd put it in. Ainnnhhh. . .they're both horror, whatever.
I've actually got Les Yeux Sans Visage on my Netflix queue to see again. . .after that whole new face transplant scientific development in recent news. . .so we can discuss.
By Jax Peach, at 5:02 PM
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