8 Women (2002)

Yes indeed: these ladies, girls and dames are gorgeous!

Before I saw this film I read about its production history and the basic idea of this great director (Ozon) to realize (another) remake of 'The Women' ('The Opposite Sex' was a 50s attempt) ... Not being able to get the rights for this old favorite of many 'old Hollywood movies' fan, he decided to give it a try with his own plot ...

Boy did he succeed!

Yes, the story and its twists are delightful ... BUT: when has anyone of us seen so many French movie legends in one film? ... Being so utterly seductive, entertaining, tragic (yes, this IS a drama mesdames et messieurs movie goers!) and glamorous beyond comparison ...

The costumes, make ups and hairstyles are prime examples how to 'introduce' the characters through her appearance ... The set and the light setting all provide the perfect backdrop for each character's special, personal story... Not enough that we learn though their words what they suffered through their short or long lives for a little bit of warmth and love -- they even sing it to us! ...

Of course, these singing acts border the ridicule at times -- but not because they are badly interpretated or written, but merely because the average movie goer is more used to TV-'showbiz' and 'action' flicks from the 'new' Hollywood and usually skips anything that appears 'artsy' or (beware!) black and white ...

Ozon deserves highest praise for his bravery to give us such a lush production that is surprisingly vintage in so many aspects, yet timeless in its main message: love hurts!

What irony that it had to be a French director and an entirely French cast to show jaded Hollywood what quality and style really are! ... Then again: doesn't that have tradition? ... Where did all those great directors and authors in the past come from, if not from Europe (Wilder, Lubitsch, von Sternberg etc.)? ...

I found it terribly refreshing to see the un-dubbed French version in the U.S. ... Though I also saw a very nicely dubbed German version, which perfectly matched voices (and character) by great, reputable German actresses with their French counterparts, it was unsurpassed fun to hear those great Ladies of the French Cinema act out all their charm, seductiveness and humour with their purring, excited and bewitching voices...

An almost private highlight is the little sequence showing that this is actually a movie with 9 women ... Remember when Louise (Emanuelle Beart), the smouldering maid, drops a photo from her cleavage the and explains that the lady in the picture was her former employer/mistress? ... None else than the legendary Romy Schneider is this very lady! ... Romy, who so died in 1983, leaving a tragic life behind her and a legacy of wonderful movies to her fans would have been certainly a top choice for Ozon to put into his masterpiece ... What a charming innuendo!

So, for everyone who has not seen this film: rush and behold the beauty! ... For all of you who have already seen it: go again, if you can ... I sure know that this movie will go straight on the top shelf of my collection as soon as it comes out on video or DVD ... Cheers Julia

Fmovies: Beneath the plot, the acting and the singing, the movie is even more enjoyable with some references. (1) While combinations of actresses of that caliber are almost unheard of anywhere, the older actresses have intersected before - and mock their prior common roles. In particular, Darrieux played Deneuve's mother twice before; Darrieux' role as the mother in Demoiselles de Rochefort, Les (1967) parallels that played by Deneuve here. (2) The actresses each mock one of their own mannerisms and/or that of one of the other actresses. For instance, Ledoyen imitates the hand movements typical of Deneuve in the 1960s and 1970s. Look also for the pairs matched in the back-to-back dance near the end - more clues! (3) Each actress also imitates one famous star or style of American cinema of the era (that is, the 1940s-1960s). Most obviously, Béart imitates Jeanne Moreau in Journal d'une femme de chambre, Le (1964) and Ardant imitates Rita Hayworth (e.g., Gilda (1946)). (4) The linchpin between these actresses, via various directors, is Romy Schneider. The picture that Deneuve picks up from Béart's apron is Schneider's. Basically, you may enjoy the film (or not) on the first degree, but for better or for worse, it is full of references. The good news, for cinephiles, is that the references are a lot broader and a fair bit more subtle than the typical Hollywood-to-Hollywood, Cinecita-to-Cinecita or Hong Kong-to-Hong Kong navel gazing.

RATING: ***1/2 out of ****

Being what it is, it seems like Francois Ozon's "8 Women" would have everything going against it. After all, the premise is hardly original and every single plot twist is predictable and derivative. There are plenty of Agatha Christie movies (not to mention the wonderful play "The Mousetrap") to offer us what "8 Women" promises as a mystery. Although I can't say if a murder mystery musical of this type has been attempted on film before, the musical numbers in this film are a bit awkward and stick out like a sore thumb. With all of this, "8 Women" would seem almost repellent. Truth be told, I loved every minute of it. The setting is Christmas in the mid-1950s, and seven women are gathering in the country home of Marcel (Dominique Lamure). There is his wife Gaby (Catherine Deneuve), who has just brought one of her two daughters, Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) back from college for the holiday. Anxiously awaiting her are her peppy sister Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier), her disabled grandmother Mamy (Danielle Darrieux), her neurotic aunt Augustine (Isabelle Huppert), cook Madame Chanel (Firmine Richard), and newly hired maid Louise (Emmanuelle Beart). All of them, although not always on the best terms with each other, seem intent on having a good time this Christmas.

Too bad for them. As is customary to happen in movies with a large mansion housing many guests, Marcel (the only man in the house), is murdered. The phone line has been cut, the car has been sabotaged, and the weather is such that no one can scale the wall surrounding the grounds. One person, however, does get in: Marcel's sister Pierrette (Fanny Ardant), who arrives with a story (which may or may not be true) that she got a call the night before saying that Marcel had been murdered. It becomes apparent that the murderer is one of these 8 women, and it is up to them to tell the complete truth and find out everyone's secrets so that they can find out who the murderer is.

It's high time we have a film like "8 Women", a maliciously absurd exercise in high camp. It succeeds even... no, especially when it fails. The story itself is the kind of murder mystery that has been filmed over and over again in previous years, but it's impossible to get enough of. This film handles all of the conventions with the perfect Christie-esque tone. It's still as fun as ever to point fingers at various possible suspect, and "8 Women" is just predictable enough that even the least experienced viewer can partake in the fun.

And with this cast, why shouldn't we have fun? One of the main purposes of this film is to let these eight actresses simply enjoy themselves, and their wicked glee comes through on screen. I wonder if Francois Ozon was at all able to keep his authority as director during shooting. For let such fantastic actresses loose on each other, allowing all of them to inhabit such bitchy individuals, one had better stay out of their way. It is said that the best comedy relies on surprise. Be assured, "8 Women" wreaks such delectable havoc on it's premise that there will be plenty of opportunities to ask: "Did I really just see that?"

This film knows a secret that we haven't seen many low-key projects like this successfully handle in recent memory: when in doubt, just sing. The musical numbers have varied success throughout the film. All pop up sporadically and never really find a way to c

8 Women fmovies. Francois Ozon directed this interesting and occasionally lighthearted film, "8 Women." It stars Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Béart, Fanny Ardant, Ludivine Sagnier, Virginie Ledoyen, and Firmine Richard.

The film takes place during a winter in 1950s France where a family congregates for the holidays. Unfortunately, Gaby's (Deneuve) husband is found dead with a knife in his back. Kind of killed the holiday spirit.

Since the dogs didn't bark, it must have been someone known to the family. They can't go to the police; the phone line was cut and they are snowed in.

As they try to figure out the identity of the murderer, we learn that each woman has a secret, which is revealed during the film. They all had motives.

Could it have been Augustin, the dead man's sister-in-law, who lives with the family? How about his beautiful wife? His mother-in-law who is confined to a wheelchair? The chambermaid who, when she lets her hair down, is even more stunning? Or perhaps the housekeeper, loyal but hiding a powerful love? One of his two daughters? His own sister, who runs a brothel? The women discuss who inherits, and multiple motives for murder, and little by little, rivalries, tears, passions, infidelities, and musical numbers emerge.

Ozon has given us a look into the female psyche, and he has employed some of France's great actresses to do it. The colors are bright, the women and clothing gorgeous.

As someone pointed out, the French do not fear casting older women. Danielle Darrieux was 85 when she made this film; She is now 98 and did a film in 2010. Some French people live a very long time - I think it's the wine.

Deneuve, 59 here, is stunning, very elegant and regal. Fanny Ardant as Pierette is gorgeous and sexy, displaying dry wit and disdain for convention. Emmanuelle Beart is the insubordinate, sexually adventurous (according to her) maid who transforms herself during the film, as does Augustin (Isabelle Huppert), the homely sister-in-law. Firmine Richard, a formidable black actress, does an impressive job with the role of Chanel, the housekeeper who finally reveals her secret.

They are all so wonderful -- French women to my mind have a very earthy, worldly quality as well as sophistication. When one thinks of some American actresses in comparison, they seem like plain vanilla. It's a generalization, I know, and we do have some fine actresses, but I think the mindset of American show business is focused on youth and typecasting.

This film is enjoyable because of the cast and the look of the movie. I can't say the music was fabulous or even fit this story. It was a touch of whimsy and the upbeat tunes were fun. There were some sad ones, too. C'est la vie.

A movie launched in 2002, "8 femmes" was the establishing movie for François Ozon. Through his movies, from his medium-length film "See the Sea" (1997) to "8 women" (2002) to "the criminal lovers" (1999), he developed his own style based on surprise. In short, his aim is to surprise the spectator. With this movie, we can say that he reached his goal and it is probably his most accomplished movie. It is also a movie that confirms the originality of his cinema.

First of all, "8 women" is a movie that surprises by its tone breaks. It means that Ozon passes from drama to comedy with great ease just like Jaco Van Dormael with "Toto the Hero" (1991). As for the songs, they are totally unexpected. Which other director would have included musical numbers in a detective movie?

As for the influences of the movie, they are numerous. Of course, this film is an adaptation from a play that evokes the Agatha Christie universe but Ozon felt like scattering his movie with all kinds of allusions: Vincente Minelli, Douglas Sirk (the deer in the garden). These allusions are especially linked to French culture: the French TV program "au théâtre ce soir" but also Jacques Demy (the bright colors, the songs) and French cinema before the "new wave". More than allusions, they are tributes from a director who once said "I don't care about new-wave".

François Ozon also plays with the spectator, a bit like Hergé with the Tintin album "the Castafiore Emerald". He holds him spellbound until the end of the film either by leading him on wrong tracks, either by giving him clues that seem to make the movie progress, and this until the final revelation that turns out to be unexpected and amazing. Besides, given the conclusion, Ozon's movie can be considered in its whole as a farce with absurd humor. The best example involves Danièle Darrieux. At the beginning of the movie, she seems to be disabled but then she stands up and walks without any difficulty for an important part of the movie!

The movie is also powerful thanks to its dialogs. On this point, beware of the poster where these 8 women have a smiling countenance! These witty and sometimes ironical dialogs reveal these women's real personality that mainly rests on selfishness. Furthermore, the actresses have a spare time in the shoes of their respective character (Isabelle Huppert is particularly irresistible).

Ozon also left high and dry several details that have, in the long run nothing important (and it is a compliment): we don't know at what time the movie takes place. Several points of the movie show it: the songs composed at different times. Then, certain elements of scenery and dialogs seem either dated either modern. In another extent, we never see the face of the sole man in the plot.

In the end, "8 women" is an unrealistic, timeless and unique movie and surprise to see this movie meet commercial acclaim in France. François Ozon by imposing his style so peculiar remains more than ever a filmmaker to follow.

Eight great actresses, one smart director, one look, and many surprising styles. Forget the plot, just enjoy beautiful audiovisual entertainment. ...with class. The songs were a surprise, and a pleasant one for that, they right away took the attitude of watching the film to a different dimension. To have fun, to see great and beautiful actresses and to just take things without being overly serious...8 Femmes is the ticket.