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Here’s a little secret: you don’t have to be a film scholar to find good obscure little films. You don’t have to know about every film—big and small—that’s come out in every country over the last 100-and-some years. You just need to be up for a little trial-and-error. If you really want to find some hidden gems, in fact, just head to the library. Browse through the racks of DVDs for a while. Take a chance. Because you could just find something as fun and as unusual as this quirky French musical mystery. (And, if you do, I want to hear about it.)
8 Women (or 8 Femmes) takes place in a beautiful French mansion in the middle of a winter storm. Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) has just returned home from school for Christmas. Shortly after Suzon arrives, the maid goes to wake Suzon’s father, Marcel, to announce that his daughter is home, and she finds him dead, with a knife in his back. Marcel’s youngest daughter, Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier), an avid mystery novel reader, decides that they need to lock the door to his room—so no one can disturb the crime scene before the police arrive. But the women soon discover that the phone lines have been cut, the car has been tampered with, and the gate has been locked. There’s no way to get out to fetch the police.
Eight women are left stranded in the house, with nothing to do but try to figure out who killed Marcel. It could be Gaby (Catherine Deneuve), Marcel’s wife, who would inherit the estate of her not-so-faithful husband. Or it could be Gaby’s plain sister, Augustine (Isabelle Huppert), or her mother, Mamy (Danielle Darrieux), who often argued with Marcel. Or maybe it’s Marcel’s estranged sister-of-ill-repute, Pierrette (Fanny Ardant), who wanted Marcel’s money. It could also be one of the maids—or even one of Marcel’s daughters.
As the women sit in the quiet house, they begin to point fingers. It’s a movie filled with secrets and lies, suspicions and shocking confessions (one even made me gasp out loud), catfights and wrestling, and formal gowns and furs.
8 Women is a wickedly entertaining, devilishly fun film—maybe because the eight women stranded in the house have all the dynamics of the cast of The Bachelor. They stand up for each other one minute, and they turn on each other the next. They yell, they scream, they accuse, and they primp. Oh, and they occasionally break out into song.
This definitely isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill movie. It’s bright and colorful and musical. In fact, it reminds me of an old movie starring Deneuve, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)—because it’s unusual, but it’s well done. While there are a few sub-plots that either don’t go anywhere or are entirely unnecessary, the movie as a whole is as fun as a night of reality TV.
Be warned, though, that when you get eight angry women in a room together, they’re bound to talk a lot—and often very quickly. At times, you’ll need to be a speed-reader to keep up with the dialog—so it’s not a movie for anyone who’s new to the whole subtitle thing—but seasoned dialog readers will love this odd little musical/comedy/mystery gem.
