7 donne e un mistero

Few people know it,but Ozon's "huit femmes" is itself a remake ; a first version of Robert Thomas's play (also often performed on stage in the fifties) was filmed in black and white as 'la nuit des suspectes" (1957 ):this first effort was more pessimistic than Ozon 's whodunit cum musical comedy .

The Italian version jettisoned the songs -they were French and they should have been replaced by Italian hits ,had it been treated like in Ozon's pleasant work ;a director whose only daring gesture -not really risqué anymore at the time- was Ardant's lesbian character .

The Italian version kept it ; it is also enjoyable to see Ornella Vanoni ( a singer and co-star of Virna Lisi in "Romolo e Remo peplum) reprising the part of Danielle Darrieux .All the actresses overplay (they also did in the French color version ) which is not a real problem ; Thomas was certainly influenced by Agatha Christie's whodunits ;the situation -people locked up in a house surrounded by the snow- reminds you of her play "the mousetrap ".

Occasionally a movie comes along that you take a chance on believing it may be better than reviewers have rated and it I am here to say that this is one of them. We had fun sitting down to an easy going mystery that made us laugh.

The character build up was excellent and every character had a reason to murder. I may have guessed the ending as we got near it, but that doesn't make the movie any less enjoyable. I hope that we see more movies like this in the future so we can watch something besides the glamours Hollywood style that has grown so tiresome. Some may call this movie silly, but I call it refreshing.

The visual was what drew me in. The color scheme is beautiful and it is obvious this is a play adapted to a movie. I havent heard of this before and Im glad I watched it. The story is a typical whodunit. I'm giving it a 6 because the story is a weak one. Nothing to do with the acting or the movie. The storyline is just weak. But no story is a waste of time. Why do we have to put so many words into a review? Nobody has reviewed yet so I'm trying to be nice and leave the first one! So what it comes down to, cute to watch but dont expect to be swept off your feet. Visuals get an A+ though. Hazzah!!

I started watching with no expectations, wanting to exercise my Italian, and had lots of fun. The storyline resembles Agatha Christie's stories, which I consider to be simple, engaging and relaxing to read. The women are gorgeous, the visuals are nice, the dialogue is funny. It's not a heavy-mistery movie, but a comedy and it did its job. I was not bored and I haven't once looked at my phone. I'm giving it 6 stars only because I think movies that have 8 stars or more are exceptional. 6 is nice, fun to watch if you're into this genre and bored, but not a "must see" or "thought provoking". All in all, not a waste of time.

Nice try but there is a much better version, a French film 8 Femmes with absolutely stellar cast including Catherine Deneuve, Fannie Ardan, and other stars. The French film also included charming dances and songs for every female character.

However, the Italian version was not bad at all, with beautiful winter scenery and homely Christmas interior. Maybe too much farce and comic elements and to few drama to make it truly great, also lack of real crime moments in the plot made the film little bit shallow and more like a theatrical comedy than difficult family drama. I also wished less colourful but more truthful, more developed characters, as there was plenty of possibilities for this.