When Catherine Lelievre (Jacqueline Bisset) hires mousy and taciturn Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire) as a housemaid, she thinks that she found a treasure. Mr. Lelievre (Jean-Pierre Cassel) seems to agree with her, pointing out that the maid just has yet to learn how to serve dinner correctly. Wealthy liberals, they treat her generously enough and expect diligence and reliability in return. However, Sophie didn't tell her new employers that she is dyslexic, and very soon she has terrible troubles with even such supposedly ordinary things as shopping lists. She befriends outspoken postal clerk Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert), who occasionally helps her with the above-mentioned lists and tells her all sorts of gossip about the Lelievre family. Mr. Lelievre, who suspects that Jeanne opens their mail, tells Sophie that Jeanne was charged with the murder of her four-year-old daughter and though she was later acquitted, he can't believe in her innocence. Thus he forbids Sophie to invite Jeanne to the Lelievre house, and the tension between Sophie and her employers increases. What could have been a thriller in the hands of a different director, in the case of Claude Chabrol has become another witty and observant social commentary about the eternal confrontation between the rich and the poor. Ruth Rendell's novel A Judgement in Stone was previously filmed in 1986 in Canada. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
Review
Like his compatriot Jean-Luc Godard, director Claude Chabrol has always been fond of manipulating genres. Typically working within the conventions of the crime thriller, Chabrol's movies prefer a clinical, aloof detachment which allows for all sorts of commentary on the suspense genre itself. In the case of the director's La Cérémonie, the suspense of the story comes from the menace of class conflict rather than standard thrills. Two of France's most esteemed actresses, Sandrine Bonnaire and Isabelle Huppert, hold the misanthropic story together with unnerving portrayals of "ice and fire"; they shared Best Actress honors at the Venice Film Festival for their work. The film was another in a series of comebacks for Chabrol, who repeatedly falls in and out of favor with critics and audiences. La Cérémonie was his most respected, successful work since 1988's The Story of Women. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
La Cérémonie tells the story of a dyslexic[1], illiterate domestic servant, Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire) who has been hired by wealthy housewife Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset). Sophie becomes friends with an erratic post office employee, Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert), and their lives begin to spiral towards violence. Chabrol presents an ambiguous view of culture and class conflict in this film, which he jokingly called "the last Marxist film."[2]
Reception
Reviews
La Cérémonie received an 90% rating from Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes (9 fresh and 1 rotten reviews) [3] and an overall rating of 92% from all critics (22 fresh and 2 rotten reviews). [4]
The Good Time Girls (1960) ·Wise Guys (1961) ·The Third Lover (1962) ·Bluebeard (1963) ·Ophélia (1963) ·The Tiger Likes Fresh Meat (1964) ·Marie-Chantal vs. Doctor Kha (1965) ·An Orchid for the Tiger (1965) ·Line of Demarcation (1966) ·The Champagne Murders (1967) ·The Road to Corinth (1967) ·The Does (1968) ·The Unfaithful Wife (1969) ·This Man Must Die (1969)
1970s
The Butcher (1970) ·The Break Up (1970) ·Just Before Nightfall (1971) ·Ten Days Wonder (1971) ·Dr. Popaul (1972) ·Wedding in Blood (1973) ·The Nada Gang (1974) ·A Piece of Pleasure (1975) ·Innocents with Dirty Hands (1975) ·Death Rite (1976) ·The Twist (1976) ·Alice or the Last Escapade (1977) ·Blood Relatives (1978) ·Violette Nozière (1978)
Quiet Days in Clichy (1990) ·Dr. M (1990) ·Madame Bovary (1991) ·Betty (1992) ·The Eye of Vichy (1993) ·Hell (1994) ·A Judgement in Stone (1995) ·The Swindle (1997) ·At the Heart of the Lie (1999)
