8 Women
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Movie Reviews of 8 Women
Movie Review: Witty use of asorted plots
Summary: 4 Stars
8 Femmes is a movie composed of elements from comedy, film noir and musical. The setting is pretty 50s and 60s, with all those glamorous and colourful wardrobe in a finely decorated and sophisticated house. The story starts with the homecoming of an overseas student daughter for Christmas and the death of her father. The father actually didn't show his face much in the movie, but because of his death, all the women in the house become suspects of the case. At the same time, it seems that they were cut off from the outside world due to the bad snow storm outside and the careful work of the murderer in the house. All of a sudden, these women were suspecting each other, forcing each other to tell the truth and reveal their secrets, which all happened to be plots used by many typical 60s movies. As the threat comes closer and closer, everyone of them gave up their mask and show their real character to protect themselves, but would that really help, or just makes the case more complicated? In just one day, they found out all the love and hatred among them, and are psychological naked in front of each other. The interesting part was that each woman has their own theme song that comes out just from no where from time to time, which makes the movie awkward but funny at the same time. The dancing is very 60s but the lyrics are definitely woven into the storyline. The whole film was presented in a awkward but at the same time very unique look. People who look for a serious comedy will find it strange, people who look for a serious thriller will find it too light, people who look for a musical will find its musical elements not adequate to tell the story. However, this movie is a hybrid of all the above elements and this makes it stands out from other movies. Certainly, you will need to have a very open minded heart to watch this movie and try not to categorise it into any familiar genre, otherwise it will be a difficult movie for one to appreciate. If you can stay open in your movie experience, this is surely an enjoyable movie, despite its occasional messy moments.Movie Review: Mayhem, and eight women....
Summary: 4 Stars
It is the late 1950's. You see a beautiful country house, and a lot of snow. Inside, there is a man and seven women. The man is Marcel (Dominique Lamure), the owner of the house, who is sleeping in his bedroom. The women are his wife Gaby (Catherine Deneuve), his daughters Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier) and Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen), his eccentric mother-in-law (Danielle Darrieux), his somewhat neurotic sister-in-law Augustine (Isabelle Huppert), his housekeeper Chanel (Firmine Richard) and Louise (Emmanuelle Béart), a remarkably attractive maid. Seven women, and one man, who unfortunately turns up dead some minutes after the film begins. Should I clarify that he has been assassinated?.
A late addition to that ensemble is Pierrete (Fanny Ardent), Marcel's estranged sister, who drops in uninvited at the house just when mayhem has erupted after the discovery of Marcel's dead body. Voilà: now you have the eight women of the title :)
These are very different women who don't like each other a lot, and that is a recipe for trouble in my book. However, there is another factor that I haven't mentioned so far, and that makes things quite more interesting: one of them murdered Marcel during the night. Eight women, unable to leave the house due to a snowstorm, and a task: weeding out a murderer. Finding the culprit will be a difficult task, because all these women lie, for one reason or the other...
"8 women" immerses the spectator in a classic murder mistery, spiced by eight songs that fit perfectly into the script, and that allow us to understand better the motivations of the characters. Director François Ozon managed to make an original and visually stunning film, that manages to surprise and please despite a not overly good ending.
On the whole, I think that you will like "8 women", unless you absolutely hate films with songs as part of the script. I'm certainly not a fan of musicals, but I really liked this movie.
Belen Alcat
Movie Review: 8 Women, where the murder is almost irrelevant, the songs are great and the women...ah, the women
Summary: 4 Stars
8 Women is a lightweight, stylish and funny murder mystery. But forget the murder. The movie really is a terrific excuse to have several of France's greatest actresses strut their stuff. We might as well get the plot out of the way quickly. There's a snowed-in country home, elegant looking and filled with elegant women. A man is found dead and one of the women in the house killed him. Who and why?
In addition to the male corpse, there's the corpse's wife, his mother-in-law, his two daughters, his sister, his sister-in-law, the chambermaid and the housekeeper. In order, they are Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Virginie Ledoyan and Ludivine Sagnier, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart and Firmine Richard. And as they tell us their stories, while the corpse stays chilled in an upstairs bedroom, they each sing French pop songs. It's all odd, funny and endearing. If they all look much like a selection of French bon bons, that's because the movie itself looks like a colorful candy box.
Isabelle Huppert is one of my favorite actresses in any language, and it was good to see her play an amusing part for a change. I'm not sure how many other actresses of her caliber can glare and make it funny. Danielle Darrieux at 85 is a wonder. The sight of Fannie Ardant and Catherine Deneuve rolling around on the floor in a semi-Sapphic tussle was gripping. And those who want to have their illusions about tomboys shattered, just watch Sagnier as the youngest daughter here and then as the under-clothed bombshell she played the following year in Swimming Pool.
Who is the killer? You won't find out from me, although that's scarcely the point of the movie. As Darrieux tells us in song, "There is no happy love." Still, murder can be a pleasure when it involves these eight actresses.
8 Women is an easy movie to watch more than once. The DVD picture and audio are first-rate.
Movie Review: An interesting movie with legendary actresses
Summary: 4 Stars
To start of, I am not a fan of Francois Ozon, his stories always seemed to be over sexed to sell more tickets. I only decided to watch this movie because of the 8 actresses (Deneuve and Bear especially). The story was shot and acted as a stage play. The colors, setting and the characters all looked perfect. However, this ideal picture is just an illusion for it hid beneath it rotten characters. The eight women are all selfish, murder, greedy and adulterous. Though the characters are not defined completely, the actresses do bring life and a sense of fun in portraying them. Off course, I can not review this movie without talking about the song. Its true none of the actresses is a real singer ( Darrieux and Deneuve did actually record music) nevertheless, the songs were preformed "well". Arden's song - a quoi sert de vivre liber was well preformed and actually better the original version (whish was sung by Nicoletta). The songs are actually hits from the 70's and 60's. Most of the songs are integrated perfectly into the movie to reviel character in their most "naked" moment. The song of the legendary singer Dalida "Pour ne pas vivre seul" was perfectly used - though badly preformed- to illustrate the loneliness of the housekeeper. Ozon again implemented his techniques in sexual tension by over using lesbianism in this movie. However, this is an entertaining movie to watch and to monitor the tension of those 8 "women" that are locked in a small space. Finally, people ask what is the point of the movie? well on the surface it is just a murder mystery however, underlying it is a pessimistic message that true love is hard to get and even harder to keep, or as Darrieux say it in her final number Il y a pas d'amour heureux!.Movie Review: A Musical Extravaganza....oh yeah, and murder, too.
Summary: 4 Stars
What a surprise and delight it is to see a movie like "8 Femmes." Having seen this movie a bit ago in the theater here in Minneapolis, I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with it. A fan of Francois Ozon, I was at first apprehensive about it, most likely due to the emotional scars I still have after seeing "Sitcom," but "8 Femmes," is not like that film at all, and is in fact, like no other movie Ozon has made so far. The shining light of the film lies in the performances of the actresses, which can only be described as a meeting of the who's who of French actresses. Deneuve, Huppert, Beart, Ledoyen, Sagnier, and the others really create a film that is not only fun, but keeps us entranced and motivated to finally see "whodunnit." This is certainly a great example of how a movie can be both entertaining and fun without a lot of action. The dialogue is witty and sharp, the sets and costumes a great throwback to the film noir mysteries of the 50's. The musical numbers only add to the fun. Albeit silly, they seem to fit in place and add a great deal more charm to the overall film.It is a bit disappointing, though, to see that the US DVD release is not going to be getting the extravagent treatment that the DVD release in France got. I recently picked up the deluxe edition of the French release, which contains the movie, an extra disc packed completely full of special featurettes, cast interviews and more, a disc with a peformance of the play that the movie is based on, and the soundtrack on CD. Now, if only a release like that would come to the US....