8 Women

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

A gaggle of mothers, wives, daughters, maids, and mistresses gather for a holiday homecoming at their country mansion -- and end up having to solve a murder-mystery -- in this musical-comic homage to studio-era "women's pictures" from acclaimed French director Francois Ozon. Partly inspired by George Cukor's 1939 classic The Women, 8 Femmes stars Catherine Deneuve as Gaby, a high-society matron just returned to her country house to celebrate Christmas with her husband; mother Mamy (Danielle Darrieux); sister Augustine (Isabelle Huppert); and daughters Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) and Catharine (Ludivine Sagnier). Not long after they all arrive, however, do they find the man of the house with a knife in his back, whereupon everyone becomes a suspect -- including maids Chanel (Firmine Richard) and Louise (Emmanuelle Beart). The mysterious arrival of Augustine's sister-in-law Pierrette (Fanny Ardant) only complicates matters, as the titular eight women find themselves snowed in by a fierce blizzard, forced to confront the matter of the lifeless husband -- and their long-standing secrets and resentments -- without the aid of the police. Following its immensely successful release in France in early 2002, 8 Women enjoyed much acclaim at the Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: English, Spanish
• Features:
  • cc
  • [None specified]

AWARDS

• Berlin International Film Festival

•     Won Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution - 2002

• French Academy of Cinema

•     Nominated Best Actress - 2002 (Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert)
•     Nominated Best Cinematography - 2002 (Jeanne Lapoirie)
•     Nominated Best Costumes - 2002 (Pascaline Chavanne)
•     Nominated Best Director - 2002 (François Ozon)
•     Nominated Best French Film - 2002
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 2002 (Krishna Levy)
•     Nominated Best Production Design - 2002 (Arnaud de Moleron)
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 2002 (François Ozon, Marina de Van)
•     Nominated Best Sound - 2002 (Jean-Pierre Laforce, Benoit Hillebrant, Pierre Gamet)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actress - 2002 (Danielle Darrieux)
•     Nominated Best Young Actress - 2002 (Ludivine Sagnier)

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Foreign Film - 2002

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  François Ozon

• Producer:

  Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier

• Play Author:

  Robert Thomas

• Screenwriter:

  Marina de Van, François Ozon

• Cinematographer:

  Jeanne Lapoirie

• Composer (Music Score):

  Krishna Levy

• Editor:

  Laurence Bawedin

• Production Designer:

  Arnaud de Moleron

• Costume Designer:

  Pascaline Chavanne

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Pierre Gamet, Jean-Pierre Laforce

• First Assistant Director:

  Hubert Barbin

• Choreography:

  Sébastien Charles

• Casting:

  Antoinette Boulat

REVIEW:

• After the subdued classicism of the dramatic thriller Under the Sand, director François Ozon lets loose with this star-studded camp extravaganza, and though the results are never less than immensely enjoyable, the director's hyper-ironic, postmodern take on Technicolor '50s women's pictures is in the end more than a little shallow. But depth isn't what Ozon is interested in here: 8 Women is all surface and pastiche, from the garish costumes recalling both Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows and Luis Buñuel's Diary of a Chambermaid, to the curiously static musical numbers marrying François Hardy classics to Lawrence Welk-style choreography. The formula yields some delectable performances, among them a grand, icon-smashing tour de force from Catherine Deneuve; a tweedy, constipated turn from Isabelle Huppert, cast joyously against type; and Emmanuelle Béart's lip-smacking parody of the erotic-maid archetype so endemic to Gallic film history. Even the film's source material seems tailor-made to Ozon's needs: The acidic one-liners, double- and triple-crosses, and ambi-sexual character revelations all work in tandem with 8 Women's meticulously designed and over-lit sets, fake snow, and plastic deer. So while film geeks -- in particular those with an encyclopedic knowledge of French cinema -- may have a ball, those expecting a straight (in every sense of the word) comedic murder-mystery will be forgiven if they stagger out of 8 Women a little dazed and confused. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi