Murderous Maids

Film is based on the infamous Papin case which rocked France in 1933. In the town of Le Mans, Monsieur Lancelin, a retired solicitor, lived with his wife and daughter. Seven years earlier, the family had hired two sisters as maids, the elder Christine and younger Lea. Madame Lancelin was strict and would wear white gloves to check for dust and there was surprisingly little personal interaction between the family and maids. One afternoon Monsieur Lancelein came home to pick up his wife and daughter for a dinner engagement and found the door bolted. After awhile police got in through a back window. They found the bodies of Madame Lancelin and her daughter; heads bludgeoned beyond recognition and legs carved like pieces of French bread. Weapons were a pewter jug, hammer and knife. Unique to this case, was the fact that their eyes had been gouged out while they were alive. The maids were found upstairs and confessed. The younger had twice blown out the house fuse and feared reprisal from the mistress of the house. The maids attacked them both when they arrived home; the younger following what the older did. The case became a cause celebre in France as an example of the cultural chasm between employer and servant. The case was also made into a play The Maids by Genet and another film - Sister My Sister. Interesting that all psychiatric testimony about the pair (incest and an extremely dysfunctional background and family) was dismissed by the small town jury but later resulted in such evidence being admitted into French trials.

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I first saw an English version of this film many years ago with Joely Richardson playing Christine and the ever so cute Jodhi May as Léa. It was on by chance that I happened on the French version Les Blessures Assassines in a Blockbuster store. After watching it, I bought a copy. Though I liked the English version, very much, I was completely swept away by the French movie, and Sylvie Testud.

Testud, who plays Christine Papin in the film, has got to be one of the most stunning women in film today. Not only is she beautiful to look at, her acting is stellar. She takes you inside the mind of Christine Papin, whether it really happened that way or not. Also a great performance from Julie-Marie Parmentier who plays her younger sister Léa Papin.

I was simply riveted. I am now a HUGE fan of Sylvie Testud and having seen Le Château on cable, I have ordered La Captive on DVD.

Sorry, but historical accuracy, t & a and good sub-titles aren't enough. As a true-crime fan, I was intregued by this film's attempt to re-construct the lives of these two women as a way of trying to understand their crimes, but the heavy-handedness of the director combined with the sweaty, gross-out sexuality between the two sisters kind of spoiled it for me (There's a sex-scene combining incest, hairy armpits and crepes that I found utterly appalling). The "bad" characters were too overly bad, the "crazy" ones were overly crazy; by presenting this polarized view of life, the director robbed the film of exactly the ambiguity that made these crimes so shocking and difficult to understand. I do, however, give high marks to the scenes of the crimes themselves--which were effectivly shocking--and to the character of the maid's mother who was a multi-dimensional, interesting and surprising character.

Even though "Murderous Maids", as a title, sounds like an American sexploitation B-flick, this film tells the true story of a pair of French sisters who serve as house maids, make incestuous love with each other, and kill their employer. Set in 1930's France, this biographical film spends considerable time developing the characters so when we see their shocking behavior it seems almost understandable. With critical plaudits aplenty, numerous awards, and sterling performances by the pair of leads (Testud & Parmentier), there's little doubt this is a quality film. However, given the unpleasantness of the issues, a somewhat tedious build to the climax, lots of maid stuff, and subtitles for non-French speakers, one should give this film due consideration before committing to the hour and a half watch. Will play best with foreign film buffs and others into serious psychodramas. (B)

I am admittedly fascinated w/ the story of the Papin sisters and its

effect on literature and film over the last 70 years, so I looked

forward to seeing this film - knowing the content (murder, incest) is

as disturbing as it is.

Although the cast gives fine performances, and Sylvie Testud is

truly dynamic as Christine, I cannot recommend this film over

Nancy Meckler's 1994 "Sister My Sister." Where this one seems

academic in its focus on the details, SMS puts the kettle on the

slow burner and lets it heat up to the boiling point. And you will not

find more intense performances than those of Joely Richardson

as Christine and Jodhi May as Lea.

SMS is riveting and ghastly and heart-breaking all at once, where

MM left me oddly unmoved but for the graphic depiction of the

murders themselves which Meckler, thankfully, used a more

Hitchcockian hand to depict in her earlier version. Meckler also

employed a more discreet touch to the scenes of incestuous

love-making, adding eroticism to the taboo that actually enhanced

the impact of disturbance rather than making it a gross out of

fleshy incestuous sex.

So, skip this one and look back on the video shelf for the superior

Sister My Sister, and you'll be happy you did.