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My thanks
to Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts…
Because the
dynamic duo own the remake rights to The Women, Francois
Ozun was forced to find another play to turn into a brilliantly
twisted homage to women’s films and musicals of the 50s.
The result is 8 Women, which may not be the
best film I’ve seen in this month of Toronto prep, but is
certainly the most joyous movie experience I’ve had in a long
while.
What can
one say about a film in which Isabelle Huppert is the
ugly girl? Where else might one find a movie with more
secrets than an Agatha Christie whodunit, but with
twisted twists that make it all the more fun.
And how could any man ask for more estrogen-laden excitement
than a couple of hours with Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant,
Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart and Viginie Ledoyen…
add to that, the mature charms of Danielle Darrieux
and Firmine Richard… and the young wonder that is Ludivine
Sagnier. (And keep an eye out for an unusual cameo by
Maria Schneider.)
Ozon’s charms
have pretty much evaded me so far.
But this film was an absolute delight.
The parade of actresses - every one iconic, every one
different – becomes one of those great gimmicks that works
because it gets you anticipating the next moments. Who will break out in song next? Who will expose the next secret? Who will be the murderess?
Instead of
finding eight great singers and/or dancers, Ozon brought together
eight special actresses and tuned their numbers to fit their
abilities. Sometimes
the singing is weak. Sometimes
the movements are really iffy. But these actresses exude so much charm and they are trying so hard
that you can’t help but to love them and their efforts. The only mistake is that Sagnier steals the
show in the very first number and it is almost impossible
for the musical side of this film to reach that level again.
(To my delight, I realized when looking up info on
8 Women that Sagnier is the French actress who won
the role of TinkerBell in Columbia’s new remake of Peter
Pan.)
Beyond the
music, this is a movie and women who are completely atypical
and completely typical… the way real life makes people.
The film couldn’t be more stylized.
Ozon shoots the movie, with the exception of about
12 shots, on a stage set, lit as often as not by classic stage
lighting. The women
don’t work to the audience and Ozon shoots the film like you
would any other feature, but the artifice of the set, including
a grand staircase right out of The Little Foxes, is
a very clever conceit.
Besides Sagnier’s
number, it is Huppert who gets to steal the movie, frumping
around as the angry, bitter, drunk, heart-broken (literally),
40-something virgin whose sister, Deneuve, gets all the attention.
One rarely thinks of Huppert as a comedienne, but after
this turn, she may have a whole new career.
She hasn’t made an America movie since Hal Hartley’s
1994 film, Amateur. Some smart American will snap her up to do
something funny and snap her up soon.
Ozon did
all kinds of tricks in making the film.
He recreated the look of Technicolor, for instance.
Reading the production notes is like taking on a small
novel. But it seemed to me he took some of the inspiration
for the musical segments from Bollywood more than any old-time
Hollywood musical. The
dance and movement is pure Hollywood.
But the nature of the music cues and placement in the
narrative… pure Bollywood.
The film
has been playing across the globe since January.
And it will arrive here, care of Focus Features, on
September 20. It’s not for everyone. Some will definitely be resistant, though I
can’t imagine anyone resisting the biggest laugh I’ve heard
in a theater since Neil Patrick Harris went Mortal
Combat on some guy in Undercover Brother. But if you have any sweet memories of musicals
or old fashioned women’s films – of the bitchy, not weepie
variety – you will have a great time with 8 Women.
I can promise you this… I will see it again and again
and again.
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