Les blessures assassines (2000)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Jean-Pierre Denis

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Denis (writer)
Paulette Houdyer (novel)

Release Date:

22 November 2000 (France)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Based on the true story of two chambermaids (the Papin sisters) of 1930s France who murdered their employer and her daughter.

Plot Keywords:

Employer | Daughter | France | Le Mans | 1930s

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Sylvie Testud	...	Christine Papin
Julie-Marie Parmentier	...	Léa Papin
Isabelle Renauld	...	Clémence
Dominique Labourier	...	Mme Lancelin
François Levantal	...	Le Gazé
Jean-Gabriel Nordmann	...	Mr. Lancelin
Tessa Szczeciniarz	...	Christine Papin (11 ans)
Charlotte Guille	...	Emilia Papin (13 ans)
Marie Donnio	...	Geneviève Lancelin
Camille Leproust	...	Léa Papin (9 ans)
Nadia Barentin	...	La mère supérieure
Lily Boulogne	...	Alberta
Jean Terensier	...	L'oncle
Alain Rimoux	...	Le maire
Michaël Abiteboul	...	Etienne

Also Known As:

Murderous Maids (International: English title) (USA)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:(Banned) | Argentina:16 | France:-12 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Le Mans, Sarthe, France

Company:

ARP Sélection

Trivia:

There is no music whatsoever in the film.

Quotes:

Christine: [to her sister Lea on her first of work] And always speak to them in third person. Aunt Isabelle said a master is three people. the one he is, the one others think he is and the one he believes he is. Always address the last one.

Movie Connections:

Version of Les abysses (1963)

Sister My Sister is the superior film for this true story.

I am admittedly fascinated w/ the story of the Papin sisters and its

effect on literature and film over the last 70 years, so I looked

forward to seeing this film - knowing the content (murder, incest) is

as disturbing as it is.

Although the cast gives fine performances, and Sylvie Testud is

truly dynamic as Christine, I cannot recommend this film over

Nancy Meckler's 1994 "Sister My Sister." Where this one seems

academic in its focus on the details, SMS puts the kettle on the

slow burner and lets it heat up to the boiling point. And you will not

find more intense performances than those of Joely Richardson

as Christine and Jodhi May as Lea.

SMS is riveting and ghastly and heart-breaking all at once, where

MM left me oddly unmoved but for the graphic depiction of the

murders themselves which Meckler, thankfully, used a more

Hitchcockian hand to depict in her earlier version. Meckler also

employed a more discreet touch to the scenes of incestuous

love-making, adding eroticism to the taboo that actually enhanced

the impact of disturbance rather than making it a gross out of

fleshy incestuous sex.

So, skip this one and look back on the video shelf for the superior

Sister My Sister, and you'll be happy you did.