8 Mulheres

Francois Ozon directed this interesting and occasionally lighthearted film, "8 Women." It stars Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Ludivine Sagnier, Virginie Ledoyen, and Firmine Richard.

The film takes place during a winter in 1950s France where a family congregates for the holidays. Unfortunately, Gaby's (Deneuve) husband is found dead with a knife in his back. Kind of killed the holiday spirit.

Since the dogs didn't bark, it must have been someone known to the family. They can't go to the police; the phone line was cut and they are snowed in.

As they try to figure out the identity of the murderer, we learn that each woman has a secret, which is revealed during the film. They all had motives.

Could it have been Augustin, the dead man's sister-in-law, who lives with the family? How about his beautiful wife? His mother-in-law who is confined to a wheelchair? The chambermaid who, when she lets her hair down, is even more stunning? Or perhaps the housekeeper, loyal but hiding a powerful love? One of his two daughters? His own sister, who runs a brothel? The women discuss who inherits, and multiple motives for murder, and little by little, rivalries, tears, passions, infidelities, and musical numbers emerge.

Ozon has given us a look into the female psyche, and he has employed some of France's great actresses to do it. The colors are bright, the women and clothing gorgeous.

As someone pointed out, the French do not fear casting older women. Danielle Darrieux was 85 when she made this film; She is now 98 and did a film in 2010. Some French people live a very long time - I think it's the wine.

Deneuve, 59 here, is stunning, very elegant and regal. Fanny Ardant as Pierette is gorgeous and sexy, displaying dry wit and disdain for convention. Emmanuelle Beart is the insubordinate, sexually adventurous (according to her) maid who transforms herself during the film, as does Augustin (Isabelle Huppert), the homely sister-in-law. Firmine Richard, a formidable black actress, does an impressive job with the role of Chanel, the housekeeper who finally reveals her secret.

They are all so wonderful -- French women to my mind have a very earthy, worldly quality as well as sophistication. When one thinks of some American actresses in comparison, they seem like plain vanilla. It's a generalization, I know, and we do have some fine actresses, but I think the mindset of American show business is focused on youth and typecasting.

This film is enjoyable because of the cast and the look of the movie. I can't say the music was fabulous or even fit this story. It was a touch of whimsy and the upbeat tunes were fun. There were some sad ones, too. C'est la vie.

8 Femmes is a playful mystery/musical/dark comedy that hearkens back to Jacques Demy's Parapluies de Cherbourg, which also starred Catherine Deneuve, and Demoiselles de Rochefort, in which Danielle Darrieux and Deneuve played mother and daughter. The story stars off as a classic tale of murder in a closed room of an isolated mansion, and all of the eight women become suspects. As the various clues and revealed secrets begin to pile up and become more and more absurd, however, it becomes clear that the mystery is secondary to exploring the various kinds of relationships that exist between these women and the way they have all been affected by their relationships (or lack of relationships) with men, especially the man who has been killed.

The mystery is also secondary to having a good time, which everyone seems to be doing. One of the main strengths of the movie is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The director and all of the actresses seem to be enjoying themselves so much that a sense of fun radiates throughout the film. Ozon uses laughter and black humor, however, to investigates the pain, rivalry and joy that arise between mothers and daughters, pairs of sisters, sisters-in-law, women servants and their mistresses, and women in love with other women. It's a grand buffet of fine acting and difficult to pick out the best of the bunch - all eight women are wonderful - but Isabelle Huppert steals a number of scenes (hard to do in that company) with the most over the top and unexpected performance. Each woman has great moments, however, sometimes of tenderness, sometimes of hilarious bitchiness, and once in a while, of sudden and intense emotional revelation. The songs that each one sings give a bit of insight to their characters and add to the overall fun of the film, but they also present dramatic challenges to the actresses, and all of them do well in making these musical numbers work.

It's great to see Darrieux again, and she does an excellent job as the matriarch of the clan who seems to be a frail and loving old grandmother at first but then pulls one surprise after another. The funniest bit in the film, a wicked moment of black comedy, involves an argument between her and daughter Gaby (Deneuve) that ends in shocking and unladylike violence. The song chosen for Darrieux to sing at the end, a haunting and poignant piece written by French poet Louis Aragon and the great singer-songwriter Geogre Brassens, pulls the film together emotionally in an unexpected way.

People expecting a straight mystery film may be disappointed in and confused by the film, and the American distributors haven't helped matters any by failing to mention on the back of the video box that 8 Femmes is a musical and a dark comedy as well. But for those viewers who have an open mind and are in the mood for a playful mystery with several great actresses, they should be greatly rewarded.

In the simply uncategorizable French movie "8 Women," successful businessman Marcel is found stabbed to death in his bed. Whodunit? Was it his wife (Catherine Deneuve) or his estranged sister (Fanny Ardant)? Or his mother-in-law (Danielle Darrieux) or his sister-in-law (Isabelle Huppert)? Or one of his daughters (Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier)? Or his longtime cook (Firmine Richard) or his new housemaid (Emmanuelle Béart)?

The movie, however, is less concerned with the murderess's identity than with giving these 8 actresses the chance to show off, in a series of campy, funny, melodramatic scenes. To that effect, there are countless catty remarks and catfights. The revealing of progressively more outrageous family secrets. Lesbianism, twisted love triangles, chic couture wardrobes, transformations from ugly duckling to swan. And, last but not least, musical numbers. The action stops for each woman to dance and sing (usually in a breathy untrained voice) a pop song that reveals her character's emotional state. It's a bizarre mix, but you'll find yourself laughing through your incredulity.

Faced with eight such talented actresses it feels rude to single out individual performers, but Huppert's portrayal of the embittered spinster Augustine steals the movie. Every one of her line readings is distinctive and hilarious, making this abrasive, histrionic character an absolute delight to watch. Almost as good is Ardant, playing a surprisingly likable free-spirited bad girl; because her character has no shame, she's at least honest when all the other women tell lies.

The lesser-known Firmine Richard gets one of the best musical numbers with "Pour ne pas vivre seul" ("So as not to live alone"), and Sagnier, who was in her early twenties when she filmed the movie, very convincingly plays a bratty 16-year-old.

All of the actresses' roles allow them to satirize their own or others' personas: Béart sends up the "seductive French maid" stereotype; Ledoyen is costumed to look like Audrey Hepburn but her character is no girlish innocent; Deneuve plays a variation on her customary chilly, glamorous bourgeois matron. Meanwhile, grande dame Darrieux cuts loose in the role of a meddling, lying grandma.

"8 Women" is thus more than just a comedy-mystery-musical: it's a witty postmodern comment on movie genres, movie stars, and three generations of French divas. It has a healthy sense of its own absurdity (indeed, how can anyone take this Agatha-Christie-type mystery seriously anymore?) yet all of the actresses are fully committed to telling this ridiculous story. Certainly one of the strangest films I've ever seen, it also--unlike so many serious and earnest modern movies--reminds me of why I love the Technicolor screen and its great actresses in the first place.

It is nearing Christmas when Gaby and teenage daughter Suzon return to their home. Her husband Marcel is poorly but he has allowed Gaby's mother Mamy and Aunt Augustine to remain in the house as well – with maids Chanel and Louise to help with the guests and his other daughter Catherine. With all these women in the house, minor squabbles break out but nothing compares to the tension when Louise discovers that someone has murdered Marcel. With the house cut off by snow and the phone lines cut, it is clear that one of the eight assembled women must have done the murder – but with so many motives and so much suspicion, who could it have been?

Even if you have not seen any of these types of films or plays, the set-up will be familiar as a sort of drawing-room "one of us is the murderer" affair and indeed that is exactly what it is, in the tradition of Agatha Christie I suppose. However what Ozon's film does is take the staples of this genre and plays with them to produce a richly comic, colourful and enjoyable exaggeration thereof. Unlike some reviewers, I did not find it roaringly funny but did find it continually amusing. The plot could have been played straight and thus is good enough to hold the interest as a genre piece but it is the delivery that makes it enjoyable and engaging. While some of the songs are a bit ropey, their delivery is all slightly ott and fun for it. It also helps that the whole film is full of rich colours, again giving it the feel of a play, happening right in front of you.

Of course as with any play, a lot does rest on the cast and here we are not disappointed as the starry cast mostly "get" what the film is trying to do. Deneuve is great as the wife while Darrieux enjoys her character a great deal. Béart and Ardant both stick in the mind easily because they have a great lingering sexuality to their characters that they bring out well (Béart is particularly impressive at this game and it was here that I twigged how stunning she is). Huppert is enjoyable but I didn't like the changes her character undergoes at the end. Ledoyen is very good with her character but I wasn't so taken with Sagnier – she was OK but I thought she had the least to work with.

Overall then an enjoyable and lively take on an occasionally dry genre. The plot is solid enough to be interesting but it is the delivery across the board that adds colour, vitality and fun to the mix – from direction through set design to of course the performances. Not hilarious but consistently amusing and entertaining.

Yes indeed: these ladies, girls and dames are gorgeous!

Before I saw this film I read about its production history and the basic idea of this great director (Ozon) to realize (another) remake of 'The Women' ('The Opposite Sex' was a 50s attempt) ... Not being able to get the rights for this old favorite of many 'old Hollywood movies' fan, he decided to give it a try with his own plot ...

Boy did he succeed!

Yes, the story and its twists are delightful ... BUT: when has anyone of us seen so many French movie legends in one film? ... Being so utterly seductive, entertaining, tragic (yes, this IS a drama mesdames et messieurs movie goers!) and glamorous beyond comparison ...

The costumes, make ups and hairstyles are prime examples how to 'introduce' the characters through her appearance ... The set and the light setting all provide the perfect backdrop for each character's special, personal story... Not enough that we learn though their words what they suffered through their short or long lives for a little bit of warmth and love -- they even sing it to us! ...

Of course, these singing acts border the ridicule at times -- but not because they are badly interpretated or written, but merely because the average movie goer is more used to TV-'showbiz' and 'action' flicks from the 'new' Hollywood and usually skips anything that appears 'artsy' or (beware!) black and white ...

Ozon deserves highest praise for his bravery to give us such a lush production that is surprisingly vintage in so many aspects, yet timeless in its main message: love hurts!

What irony that it had to be a French director and an entirely French cast to show jaded Hollywood what quality and style really are! ... Then again: doesn't that have tradition? ... Where did all those great directors and authors in the past come from, if not from Europe (Wilder, Lubitsch, von Sternberg etc.)? ...

I found it terribly refreshing to see the un-dubbed French version in the U.S. ... Though I also saw a very nicely dubbed German version, which perfectly matched voices (and character) by great, reputable German actresses with their French counterparts, it was unsurpassed fun to hear those great Ladies of the French Cinema act out all their charm, seductiveness and humour with their purring, excited and bewitching voices...

An almost private highlight is the little sequence showing that this is actually a movie with 9 women ... Remember when Louise (Emanuelle Beart), the smouldering maid, drops a photo from her cleavage the and explains that the lady in the picture was her former employer/mistress? ... None else than the legendary Romy Schneider is this very lady! ... Romy, who so died in 1983, leaving a tragic life behind her and a legacy of wonderful movies to her fans would have been certainly a top choice for Ozon to put into his masterpiece ... What a charming innuendo!

So, for everyone who has not seen this film: rush and behold the beauty! ... For all of you who have already seen it: go again, if you can ... I sure know that this movie will go straight on the top shelf of my collection as soon as it comes out on video or DVD ... Cheers Julia