Themes: Out For Revenge, Haunted By the Past, Totalitarian States
Main Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Stuart Wilson
Release Year: 1994
Country: US/UK/FR
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Ariel Dorfman's acclaimed play of the same name serves as the basis for Roman Polanski's drama, which depicts a politically and psychological complex battle of wills amongst three characters in an unnamed South American country. The trio in question is made up of Paulina Sigourney Weaver, her husband Gerardo Stuart Wilson, and Dr. Miranda Ben Kingsley, a seemingly friendly stranger who provided Gerardo with a ride home after a car breakdown. The trouble begins when Paulina claims to recognize Miranda's voice, and accuses him of being the unseen doctor who had subjected her to horrific torture during her days as a prisoner of the country's former government. Miranda, flabbergasted, denies any knowledge of such events, but Paulina is determined to have her revenge. The uncertain Gerardo finds himself caught in the middle, forced to decide if his wife is telling the truth or reacting irrationally due to her past trauma. The confrontation and shifts in power between the three inevitably raises issues of justice and revenge, especially in relationship to the punishment of war criminals. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Although its origin is made too clear by a stage-bound production, this adaptation of an Ariel Dorfman play poses profound ethical and philosophical questions and boasts riveting performances from its cast, representing a highlight in the comeback stage of director Roman Polanski's career. Although this is primarily a three-character piece, Gerardo (Stuart Wilson) is superfluous to a degree, standing in as he does for the audience. Death and the Maiden is really a duet between Paulina (Sigourney Weaver) and Dr. Miranda (Ben Kingsley), and the actors do not disappoint, navigating the peaks and valleys of an emotional roller-coaster ride. A monument to anger and pain, Weaver is electrifying, while Kingsley convincingly portrays lethal cunning as a man literally thinking for his life. If the film has a flaw, it's the visually static aspects of the storytelling. Polanski should have sought more visual ways to open up the play's action (a climactic scene atop a bluff is a welcome relief from the confining one-room setting), but this is a small quibble. Just as a documentary can be compelling as nothing more than a series of talking heads as long as those heads are saying something interesting, so too can a play adaptation work grandly in cinematic form when the source material is this richly rewarding. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Paulina Escobar (Weaver) is a housewife married to a prominent lawyer in an unnamed South American country. One day a storm forces her husband Gerardo (Wilson) to ride home with a kind stranger. That chance encounter brings up demons from her past, as she is convinced that the stranger, Dr. Miranda (Kingsley), was part of the old fascistregime and that he tortured and raped her while she was blindfolded. Paulina takes him captive to determine the truth. Despite attempts by both her husband and Miranda to convince her that he is innocent, Paulina is certain that he is the one, and forces her husband to be Miranda's "attorney" in the "trial" she arranges for him.
Miranda conspires with Gerardo to agree to a false confession (as Paulina states that that is all she wants in exchange for his life), so they write one up and present it to Paulina. Enraged, Paulina deems Miranda as being unrepentant, and threatens to kill him. As Gerardo tries to stop her, Miranda succeeds in getting Paulina's gun, and threatens to kill her if he is not freed. As he advances toward the door, Paulina hits him and after a struggle gets back in control. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, Miranda implores Gerardo to call the place where he claims to have been at the time of Paulina's rape as she leads him blindfolded out the door to the edge of the cliff. Gerardo contacts the hospital, and the story is confirmed and he races to inform Paulina, at last convinced that Miranda is innocent. However, it is revealed that the doctors at that time created alibis in order to conceal their identities, and so Paulina rejects this as false. Accepting defeat, Miranda finally tells them that he really was the doctor, that he enjoyed brutalizing Paulina, and that he was sorry that the old regime fell.
Enraged, Gerardo attempts to throw Miranda from the cliff only to realize he cannot bring himself to take a life. Paulina apparently accepts the confession, and they both leave Miranda on the cliff as he stares down at the water. In the final scene, Paulina and Gerardo are at the same concert where the film began with Miranda also present, looking down with his wife and sons. They cast uncomfortable glances at each other.
.jpg)
