8 Women (2002) 8 femmes (original title)

Director:

François Ozon

Writers:

François Ozon
Robert Thomas (play)
(more)

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

Living in a house full of women can be murder.

Plot:

One murdered man, eight women, each seeming to be more eager than the others to know the truth. Gimme, gimme, gimme some clues to make up my mind. And eventually enter the truth. Oh, thou cruel woman!

Plot Keywords:

Secret | Industrialist | Cook | Murder | Maid

Awards:

10 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Danielle Darrieux	...	Mamy
Catherine Deneuve	...	Gaby
Isabelle Huppert	...	Augustine
Emmanuelle Béart	...	Louise
Fanny Ardant	...	Pierrette
Virginie Ledoyen	...	Suzon
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Catherine
Firmine Richard	...	Madame Chanel
Dominique Lamure	...	Marcel, the husband

Directed by
François Ozon

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Marina de Van
François Ozon
Robert Thomas		play

Produced by
Stéphane Célérier	....	associate producer
Olivier Delbosc	....	producer
Marc Missonnier	....	producer

Original Music by
Krishna Levy

Cinematography by
Jeanne Lapoirie

Film Editing by
Laurence Bawedin

Casting by
Antoinette Boulat

Production Design by
Arnaud de Moleron

Set Decoration by
Marie-Claire Quin

Costume Design by
Pascaline Chavanne

Makeup Department
Jean-Charles Bachelier	....	key hair stylist
Fabienne Bressan	....	key hair stylist
Agathe Dupuis	....	key hair stylist
Cédric Gérard	....	key makeup artist
Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen	....	key makeup artist
John Nollet	....	key hair stylist
Gill Robillard	....	key makeup artist
Myriam Roger	....	key hair stylist
Hervé Soulié	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Christine De Jekel	....	production manager
Marie-Eve Graviou-Dural	....	unit manager
Mélanie Karlin	....	post-production supervisor
Gilles Monnier	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hubert Barbin	....	first assistant director
Cyril Duval	....	second assistant director
Guillaume Huin	....	trainee assistant director
Nicolas Ronchi	....	third assistant director

Art Department
François Aïssa	....	carpenter
Céline Barray	....	set dresser
Philippe Boutillier	....	sculptor
Thomas Broyon	....	swing gang
Bernard Chenevier	....	carpenter
Henri Demonio	....	carpenter
Christophe Doubliez	....	carpenter
Nicolas Doyon	....	construction coordinator
Pierre Duboisberranger	....	first assistant art director
Jean-Baptiste Gallou	....	head painter
François Hennequin	....	painter
Christophe Hervé	....	painter
Antoine Hoog	....	painter
Emmanuel Jaffre	....	carpenter
Jean-Louis Lalet	....	property master
Mick Lanaro	....	music art director
Loïc Le Moigne	....	painter
Norbert Luchessi	....	head carpenter
Christelle Maisonneuve	....	assistant set decorator
Elodie Martin	....	assistant art director
Franck Miniconi	....	painter
Laurent Moizo	....	painter
Louis Morand	....	carpenter
Bruno Peschard	....	props
Santiago Isidro Pin	....	painter
Marie-Claire Quin	....	set dresser
Serge Royo	....	carpenter
Carole Récamier	....	upholsterer
Marjorie Thomas	....	painter
Elise Tulli	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Charles Autrand	....	assistant sound editor
Christophe Bourreau	....	foley artist
Vincent Breau	....	sound assistant
Frédéric Cattoni	....	stereo sound consultant: DTS
Bernard Chaumeil	....	sound assistant
Samuel Dequidt	....	assistant sound editor
Philippe Dongé	....	sound recordist
Pierre Gamet	....	sound
Benoît Hillebrant	....	sound editor
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound mixer
Lionel Le Bras	....	boom operator
Stéphan Lucas	....	sound recordist
Pedro Marques	....	synchronization sound engineer
Michel Monier	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Julien Perez	....	sound recordist
Pascal Vonhatten	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Christophe Messaoudi	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Nicolas Kermel	....	digital artist
Christopher Grandel	....	trailer digital effects, Howard Anderson Company (uncredited)

Stunts
Pascaline Girardot	....	stunts
Pascal Guégan	....	stunt coordinator
Pascal Guégan	....	stunts
Crystal Samani	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Nicolas Dixmier	....	gaffer
Mickael Georgeault	....	electrician
Alexandre Gotkovski	....	electrician
Yorick Le Saux	....	camera operator
Jean-Claude Moireau	....	still photographer
Carlos Ribeiro	....	grip
Benoît Rizzoti	....	assistant camera
Didier Rollot	....	electrician
Hervé Rousset	....	key grip
Ludovic Simeon	....	second assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hélène Cassard	....	costumer
Isabelle Guérin	....	costumer
Emma Lebail	....	costumer (as Emma le Bail)
Hélène Robin	....	costumer
Monique Tourret	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Richard Deusy	....	colorist
Christian Dutac	....	color timer
Delphine Illouz	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Amélie de Chassey	....	music supervisor
Daniel Fauré	....	composer: song "Pour ne pas vivre seul"
Bruno Fontaine	....	musician: piano
Bruno Fontaine	....	orchestrator
Jil	....	composer: song "Papa t'es plus dans l'coup"
Gene Kelly	....	composer: song "Pour ne pas vivre seule"
Didier Lizé	....	score mixer
Delphine Mathieu	....	music supervisor
Edouard Dubois	....	music consultant (uncredited)

Other crew
Thierry Chapat	....	administrator
Sébastien Charles	....	choreographer
Marylène Dastugue	....	production secretary
Marina de Van	....	collaborator
Aurélien Dubois	....	trainee production
Agathe Grau	....	script supervisor
Amélia Guyader	....	production assistant

Thanks
Dominique Besnehard	....	thanks

Production Companies

• BIM
• Canal+
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Fidélité Productions
• France 2 Cinéma
• Gimages 5
• Local Films
• Mars Distribution

Distributors

• Celluloid Dreams (2002) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• BIM Distribuzione (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Constantin Film (2002) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2002) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Focus Features (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Mars Distribution (2002) (France) (theatrical)
• Seville Pictures (2002) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (VHS)
• CinemaFilm (Argentina)
• GAGA
• Homescreen (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Imagem Filmes (Brazil) (DVD)
• Imagem Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2002) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Seville Pictures (200?) (Canada) (DVD)
• Shoval Communications (Israel)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• UGC Films
• USA Films (USA)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2003) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Iris Camera  camera equipment
• Locaflash  lighting equipment
• SIF309 Film & Music Productions  film score recording
• Telegrip  grip equipment

Also Known As:

"8 femmes" - France (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexual content

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R | Malaysia:18PL | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15

Company:

BIM

Trivia:

When Louise shows a photo of her former employer, it is a picture of Romy Schneider.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): On two occasions the ladies refer to the gun as a revolver but it is clearly a semi-automatic pistol.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[in French, using English subtitles]
Suzon:I'm going in, Mom.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Stroll (2003)

Soundtrack:

Pile ou face

8 Women: 8 facets of womanhood which drive men crazy...

Francois Ozon is a daring director who never leaves the audience indifferent... 8 Women can be seen as a mysoginist view of womanhood from the viewpoint of a gay director... However I for one saw this movie as great entertainment and excellent showpiece for France's leading screen divas.

8 Woman is a whodunnit not so far from Agatha Christie's 10 Petits Negres: 8 women each have enough reasons to kill the father, in-law, brother and master of the house. Of course I will not tell who killed the man and why, but it is not so important after all. Because 8 Women is first and foremost about womanhood: all facets of the woman exposed through the revelations, attitudes, manipulations of 8 different women: the girl, the blossoming young lady (Ledoyen), the femme fatale (fabulous Ardant), the femme repressed (hilarious Huppert), the bourgeoise (Deneuve), the old stepmother, the lesbian, the sexual and sexy maid (Beart).

This film is all about the cast performance. All women have their sing-a-song moment very apropos and funny. All actors deliver stunningly, especially Ardant, Deneuve and Beart. It is very lighthearted despite the somber revelations: bright colours, golden 50's nostalgic atmosphere, nice pop tunes with fun choreography.

It is great to see that French directors love their actresses whatever their age... Hollywood learn from this, we don't care much about Pamela Anderson or Jennifer Lopez-like babes... Honestly as a young French guy, the 50-something Fanny Ardant is the one who turned me on the most!

Wholeheartedly, 9.5/10