Loading ...“8 women” by Francois Ozon with Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Emmanuelle Beart, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen, Ludivine Sagnier and Firmine Richard
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This film is literally a who’s who of the french actresses dominating the screens for the last couple of decades. So what happens when you put together such a talented cast? A great film or an ego fight?
The film is adapted from a play. They have kept the same locations as for the play and besides a few outside shots, everything takes place in the same few rooms of the house. Still, the actresses have so much screen appeal that you forget about the monotonous locations, you just follow the story. |
The film features 8 women and 1 man. It is in essence a social study of women, women from different generations and with different social status. The characters are well rounded, each of them making decisions that fit so well with their personality that you forget they are on the screen and you feel you are at a meal watching your family or your friends.
If you aren’t familiar with french cinema, you won’t recognise all the names but Catherine Deneuve and Virgine Ledoyen should be familiar to you. However, even though they have both crossed over to Hollywood, do not get mistaken - this film is resolutely french, in all its culture and sense of humour.
For a start, the film includes popular french songs, as a way to both push forward the plot and bring a bit of reprieve to the seriousness of the situation they find themselves in. This device had a revival in France in the late 90s with films such as “on connait la chanson” (1997).
While the use of songs might be lost on people not knowing french popular music culture, the characters, so well defined and reminding us of various women we all know, easily build the bridge with other cultures. The 8 women are portrayed neither in negative nor in positive light. Simply, between them, this is a great study not only of women but of human beings, with emotions ranging from jealousy to protection, from freedom to fear.
As these women are meant to represent women, you won’t be surprised to know that lesbianism is included. It’s both a big deal for some of the characters and not a big deal for other characters; again, this is the sort of mixed reaction one often gets when coming out to the whole family, with family members from various ages and social backgrounds. However, considering that the film is set in the 50s, this is rather unheard of to not only mention lesbianism but also have a lesbian kiss scene. Mind you, Catherine Deneuve has some experience in lesbian kisses (”The Hunger”, “Les voleurs” etc)…
8 women. 8 great french actresses. a great study of women and human beings. lesbianism in the 50s. a hot lesbian kiss with Catherine Deneuve. Do you need more reasons to watch it? Recommended.
Links:
Catherine Deneuve Interview with The Advocate, 25th July 1995 - this webpage is a reproduction of the interview
Les Voleurs, IMDb
Francois Ozon, official website, in english
Tags: lesbian/bi women, strong women