Le pacte du silence (2003)

Director:

Graham Guit

Writers:

Marcelle Bernstein (novel)
Rose Bosch

Release Date:

5 March 2003 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The truth behind the secret is a lie.

Plot:

A priest who is also a doctor investigates the mysterious illness of a young nun who shares a dark secret with her twin sister who is a convicted child murderer.

Plot Keywords:

Twin | Priest | Twin Sister | Doctor | Prison

Cast

Gérard Depardieu	...	Joachim
Élodie Bouchez	...	Gaëlle / Sarah
Carmen Maura	...	Mère Emmanuelle
Isaac Sharry	...	Morel
Tsilla Chelton	...	Mère Joseph
Estelle Larrivaz	...	La soeur archiviste
Anne Le Ny	...	La soeur infirmière
Wojciech Pszoniak	...	L'archevêque (as Wojtek Pszoniak)
Isabelle Candelier	...	La psychiatre
Hervé Pierre	...	Marcel
Manuela Gourary	...	Chantal
Philippe du Janerand	...	Chaumelle, le scientifique
Marie-Sohna Conde	...	Mica
Lucie Le Bras	...	Gaëlle / Sarah à 14 ans
Charlotte Bonnet	...	Suzanne Chaumelle
Christian Chauvaud	...	Chauffeur fourgon
Vincent Jouan	...	Officier fourgon
Emmanuel Avena	...	Dandy
Nicky Marbot	...	Rablé
Marie Vincent	...	L'infirmière-chef
Patrice Bornand	...	Le sacristain
Fabien Billet	...	Joachim à 16 ans
Numa Faubert	...	Le copain de Joachim
Lenny Guit	...	Lenny Chaumelle
Harpo Guit	...	Harpo Chaumelle
Lulma Guit	...	Fille Chaumelle
Numa Goldman	...	Jumeau Ferrer 1
Thaddée Goldman	...	Jumeau Ferrer 2
Daniel Isoppo	...	L'inconnu du jardin
Teresa Madruga	...	La matonne
Miguel Hurst	...	L'interne
Lucinda Loureiro	...	La gardienne de prison
Patrícia Bull	...	La mère de l'enfant noyé
Jode Moreira	...	Le douanier Brésil
Orlando Costa	...	Le chauffeur hôtel
Ana Magaia	...	Santa
Augusto Portela	...	Le policier
Elsa Wallencamp	...	La religieuse carmel
Patrice Cols	...	Le collègue de Chaumelle
Nicolas Meudec	...	Le copain tabassé
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
José Moreira	...	Le douanier Brésil

Directed by
Graham Guit

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Marcelle Bernstein		novel "Sacred and Profane"
Rose Bosch		(as Roselyne Bosch)

Produced by
António da Cunha Telles	....	executive producer
Alain Goldman	....	producer
Catherine Morisse	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by
Patrick Blossier

Film Editing by
Marie-Blanche Colonna

Casting by
Marie-Christine Lafosse
Patrícia Vasconcelos

Production Design by
Denis Renault

Costume Design by
Nathalie du Roscoat

Makeup Department
Maryse Faure	....	key hair stylist
Turid Follvick	....	key makeup artist
Alexis Kinebanyan	....	special makeup effects artist
Benoît Lestang	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Olivier Chiavassa	....	production director
Nicolas Dancel	....	assistant unit manager
Edouard Dupont	....	unit manager
Cathy Lemeslif	....	production manager
Sophie Moulin	....	unit manager trainee
Laurent Rizzon	....	unit manager
Zohra Sougmi	....	post-production supervisor
Elisabeth Wittersheim	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
João Cayatte	....	assistant director: Portugal
Natalie Engelstein	....	first assistant director
Maria José Monteiro	....	assistant director
Caroline Rédy	....	second assistant director (as Caroline Redy Pinto)
Atlas Vidal de la Blache	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Marie José Arnautin	....	head painter
Fabienne Couvreur	....	painter
Sebastien Gache	....	painter
Justine Gasquet	....	second assistant art director
Mireille Gauron	....	upholsterer
Jean-Philippe Geoffriau	....	first assistant art director
Antoine Gerber	....	painter
Madalena Guerreiro	....	painter
Jean-François Huet	....	construction manager
Alain Mac Keldey	....	property master
Jean-Marie Milon	....	constructor
Vincent Panossian	....	constructor
Frédéric Poulet	....	painter
Frédéric Rigaud	....	painter
Janou Shammas	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Vincent Arnardi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Emmanuel Augeard	....	sound editor
Marc-Antoine Beldent	....	sound
Matthieu Bricout	....	boom operator
Isabelle Filippi	....	post-synchronization
Michel Filippi	....	post-synchronization
François Lepeuple	....	foley editor
Olivier Marlangeon	....	assistant foley editor
Frédéric Mascaras	....	sound assistant
John Timperley	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Georges Demétrau	....	special effects supervisor
Sara Helmlinger	....	special effects
Olivier Zenenski	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Pierre Blain	....	Inferno artist
Pierre Blain	....	digital compositor
Olivier Debert	....	digital compositor
Thierry Flament	....	digital compositor
Joyce Menger	....	production: Eclair Numerique
Frederic Moreau	....	visual effects
Philippe Reinaudo	....	scanning & film recording assistant
Philippe Soeiro	....	visual effects supervisor: Eclair Numerique
Gérard Soirant	....	scanning & film recording assistant

Stunts
Stéphane Boulay	....	stunts
Jacques Delahaye	....	stunt double: G. Depardieu
Cyrille Hertel	....	stunt coordinator
Karim Hocini	....	stunts
Claire Leroy	....	stunts
Nicolas Meudec	....	stunts
Camille Revuz	....	stunt double: L. Le Bras

Camera and Electrical Department
Jérôme Alméras	....	first assistant camera
Artur Andrade	....	electrician: portuguese team
Carlos Antunes	....	electrician: Portugal
Paulo Jorge Antunes	....	Steadicam operator: Portugal
Pascal Auguié	....	still photographer (as Pascalito)
Eric Blanckaert	....	second assistant camera
Armando Chourico	....	grip: Portugal
Miguel Efe	....	grip: Portugal
Thibault Grabherr	....	still photographer
Emmanuel Hauvel	....	electrician
Pascal Henin	....	electrician
Rachid Madaoui	....	gaffer
Miguel Malheiros	....	assistant camera: Portugal
Adam Rosenski	....	Steadicam operator
Maria João Schreck	....	assistant camera: Portugal
Mário Soares	....	electrician: Portugal
Mário Soares	....	gaffer
Rui Torres	....	electrician: Portugal
Yves Vandersmissen	....	key grip

Casting Department
Brigitte Fourcade	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marie-José Alvarez	....	costumer
Marie-Laure Lasson	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Elodie Mittet	....	assistant editor
Bruno Patin	....	color timer

Other crew
Virginie Barbay	....	script supervisor
Marie-Anne Bedel	....	production assistant
Michel Boyard	....	assistant: Gérard Depardieu
Pierre Cadeac	....	animal trainer
Nicole Cobac	....	production administrator
Axel Decis	....	production assistant
Laetitia Dom	....	production secretary: France
Pascal Fouineau	....	location manager
Rodolphe Lanaro	....	location scout
Odile Micheneau	....	production administrator
Nuno Oliveira'Konadu'	....	production assistant
Catherine Pradere	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Légende Entreprises
• StudioCanal
• TF1 Films Production

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (2003) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2003) (Argentina) (all media)
• LK-TEL (2003) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2003) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (2003) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2003) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD) (Included in 4 film compilation)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2010) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cinécool  titles
• Dovidis  re-recording sound stages
• Key Grip Systems  grip equipment
• Left Coast Digital  DVD transfer
• Titra Film Paris  subtitles
• Transpalux  electrical material

Also Known As:

"Pact of Silence" - USA (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and language

Runtime:

France:95 min | Canada:89 min (DVD) | Argentina:95 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Latin | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Denmark:11 | France:U | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Argentina:13 | Philippines:R-18 | Iceland:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Canal+

Quotes:

Joachim:I believe in miracles of faith. The power of the soul over the body, and I believe it's not your body that's suffering right now. You can talk to me.
Gaëlle:The priest or the doctor?

The Pact of the Twins

Films about identical twins are always interesting, especially when they are so gorgeous your two eyes are out on stalks looking both ways at once. Elodie Bouchez is my idea of the kind of twin I would like to have all round me, what a gal! That is the kind of double-vision we would all like to have all the time! In the story, the twins have had a hard time of it, one locked up in prison for a murder ostensibly committed at the age of 14, and the other locked up in a hideously fundamentalist Carmelite nunnery (don't you just hate all that Catholic masochism stuff?) Carmen Maura plays a mother superior who is in love with the twin who is the nun, and she is very convincing. Into this mix steps a priest named Father Joachim, played by Gerard Depardieu. He is extraordinarily good at this, despite the fact that we know in real life he is one of France's leading bon viveurs. Strangely, in this role we do not really expect him to pick up a wine bottle and drink it all in one go, or wipe his lips after having had some snails. Instead, we really believe that he is that ascetic renegade priest 'with a past'. When he gets sacked by the horrible hypocritical Monseigneur, we want to cheer because he is free of the crap and now has time to take more interest in - which twin is it? Well, there's the problem. Even he loses track of which twin it is. Each one feels the other's pain, and there is a strong paranormal element with the story, and the twins are in constant telepathic contact. This is a very intriguing and gripping tale, well made, and with the performances of Elodie Bouchez being so spell-binding (her allure is indefinable, which is what all allure should be, but it has a spiritual dimension) that this is one of those really good gripping French movies that we wish they made so many more of.