Murderous Maids

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1812.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kandahar"><U>Kandahar</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1957.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lady and the Duke"><U>Lady and the Duke</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1958.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Late Marriage"><U>Late Marriage</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1959.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Like Mike"><U>Like Mike</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1960.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Made in Japan"><U>Made in Japan</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1961.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mule Skinner Blues"><U>Mule Skinner Blues</U></A>   |   <B>Murderous Maids</B>   |   <A HREF="id1963.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nine Queens"><U>Nine Queens</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1964.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pantaleon"><U>Pantaleon</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1965.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Patton"><U>Patton</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1966.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Piano Teacher"><U>The Piano Teacher</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Pages for</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/index.htm"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>            </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                   </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Murderous Maids</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="495"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="495" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> <B>Murderous Maids    </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B> ½   Stars    Not Rated</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> Reviewed by Shelley Cameron</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="588" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> Boiling point</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Sylvie Testud: Christine Papin     </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Julie-Marie Parmentier: Lea Papin</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div> Isabelle Renauld: Clémence </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Director : Jean-Pierre Denis</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> The real-life 1933 murder case of sisters Christine and Lea Papin who brutally murdered their employer and her daughter in Le Mans, France is observed with a keen psychological eye by writer/director Jean-Pierre Denis. This fascinating exploration of a soul reaching the breaking point is chillingly insightful. </div> <bR> <div> Speculating on the interior reality of Christine Papin, Denis unveils a childhood marked by disdain from her mother and abandonment and possible sexual abuse by her father. Through adolescence and into hard adulthood her isolation and disconnect from nurturing relationships mounts.  At age 11 Christine is taken by her mother to a convent school, along with her sister Emilia.  When Emilia chooses a convent vocation, Christine too prefers to stay but her mother refuses permission saying, "You will slave for others like I had to."  </div> <bR> <div> The astonishing performance of Sylvie Testud displays a perceptive awareness into the marrow of Christine Papin, whose only tender connection is with her younger sister, Lea.  In Christine's view, their embittered mother, Clémence (Isabelle Renauld), tries to keep Lea away from her, yet another act of rejection and dismissal that she can not bear.  She feels fixed in a non-existence.  In the role of domestic servant, her employers cannot recall her name or even her hair color.  When she is placed in service in the same home as her sister Lea, she has a moment of expectancy.  </div> <bR> <div> The sisters are cemented together by their mutual need for affection and their background that has shut out all others.  Quite a few years older than Lea, Christine's affection is brimming with sexual longing that she keeps in check, for a while.  She has promised to protect her sweet, simple sister Lea.  Testud's Christine is a taut, frayed rope strained to the breaking point, in tense control until she loses it all, like a burst dam.  The sisters' devotion turns explicitly sexual, but somehow joyless for the always-troubled Christine. Anxiety and fear turn into frenzied madness when the sisters are unexpectedly interrupted, by their employer Madame Lincelan and her daughter.   </div> <bR> <div> Both were convicted of murder and Christine was sentenced to the guillotine.  Denis' version of the long-debated case suggests the probability that more recent search is likely.  Christine Papin was deeply disturbed, possibly paranoid schizophrenic.  Unable to see her sister, she grew increasingly delusional, was transferred to an asylum and died in 1937.</div> <bR> <div> Julie-Marie Parmentier's skillful portrayal of the untainted Lea is pure counterpoint to Christine's frostiness.  The real life Lea Papin, thought by many to be long dead, was discovered during the making of this film.  She was released from prison during the 1940's and lives quietly in France.  Due to a stroke, she is unable to speak or write. </div> <div>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="588"><div> Shelley Cameron <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Symbol" >Ó</FONT> 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> <A HREF="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:shlcameron@aol.com"><U><U>Shelley@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>