Product: 8 Women (2002)
Rating: 5.0
Pure campy fun!
What hysterical campy fun! I first saw this movie when it first came out in 2003, but have seen it many times since and it never fails to crack me up. There is so much going on that I sometimes need to watch it a few times so that I can watch the actresses instead of being distracted by the subtitles. There are so many laugh- out- loud moments.I can see why some found it lacking or even banal. However, from my stand point, it was done so over the top that I can't imagine that the actresses themselves could keep a straight face while doing this. That being said, director Ozon has done and excellent job of keeping this whodunit walking the fine line between silly and seriousness as to not be too ridiculous.Isabelle Huppert gives the most outrageously funny performance of them all as the spinster, hypochondriac, drama queen sister-in-law. I didn't even recognize her at first. Normally known for her excellent portrayal of dark, twisted, tortured characters, she camps it up totally in this as Augustine. And Danielle Darrieux is so funny as Gaby's (Catherine Deneuve) somewhat doddering mother pretending non-existent ailments. All the actresses do a great job though, even over acting the over acting.Marcel, the only man in the film, is found murdered and all 8 women in his life: his wife, two daughters, maid, cook, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and sister are suspects. They are all trapped in the house and as the day wears on, everyone's secrets and whereabouts the night before start spilling out. Of course they slowly start suspecting and snipping at each other and saying what they really feel as they spill their own and each other's secrets. This is not totally a catty beyotch fest though as one might think with all of these women, no, there are some really touching moments as well when they do confess their hearts, secrets, and regrets to each other.There are strong homosexual overtones as everyone seems to come onto each other at some point, which doesn't make that much sense, but which adds to the absurd faux noir-ish aura of this film. Set in the 50's, many of the moral judgments of that time period come out as homosexuality, pregnancy out of wedlock, loose sexuality, and marital infidelity have been perpetrated by and get judged by the characters. Done in the 2002 though, none of it is shocking and it only added to the over the topness as the story progresses.It's a really fun film though just for what it is, and the 50's type dress styles and Technicolor hues totally added to the whole feel and fun of the film. The twists and turns as clues are introduced, as well as the over melodramatic use of use of music at certain times, does keep the whodunit part of the film intriguing. My only one meh about this film are the songs. None of the women can really sing all that well and sometimes the songs seemed to just be thrown in there, but I just skimmed through them after the first time I watched the film.Just a few tidbits:Actually, Danielle Darrieux played Catherine Deneuve's mother in three films: Damoiselles de Rochefort, Le Leiu du Crime, and 8 Femmes.Catherine Deneuve also sang in Belle Maman, and Je Vous Aime-- a duet with Serge Gainsbourg.Director Ozon was said to have done a little inside honor/joke to famed French director Francois Truffaut by putting in that scene where Deneuve and Ardant are rolling on the floor kissing. Fanny Ardant replaced Deneuve as Truffaut's lover back in the 80's and apparently CD was not to happy about having to do that scene. But she did it of course, and she was very funny in it.Contrary to what one might think having all of these French film icons in one room together, they all claim to have gotten along and in between takes they sat around smoking and yakking away.