A newly hired maid for a rich countryside family befriends a post-office clerk who encourages her to rebel against her employers.A newly hired maid for a rich countryside family befriends a post-office clerk who encourages her to rebel against her employers.A newly hired maid for a rich countryside family befriends a post-office clerk who encourages her to rebel against her employers.
- Awards
- 9 wins & 11 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe author Ruth Rendell has said that Claude Chabrol's version of her novel "A Judgement in Stone" is one of the few film adaptations of her work that she is happy with.
- Quotes
Georges Lelievre: [referring, respectively, to Sophie the illiterate maid and Jeanne the nosy postal clerk] What a pair: one can't read at all, and the other reads our mail.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Close Up: Isabelle Huppert: Message personnel (2020)
- SoundtracksCello Symphony
Composed by Benjamin Britten
Featured review
Still Impressive After Watching Many Years after the Release
The upper-class owner of a gallery Catherine Lelievre (Jacqueline Bisset) hires the efficient and quiet maid Sophie Bonhomme (Sandrine Bonnaire) for working in the family manor in the countryside of France. Her husband Georges Lelievre (Jean-Pierre Cassel), who is an opera lover, her daughter Melinda (Virginie Ledoyen) and her teenage son Gilles (Valentin Merlet) welcome Sophie and appreciate her work. Soon Sophie befriends the postmistress Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert), who is a social outcast, and she encourages Sophie to rebel against her employers, but the maid stays submissive. However, Sophie is ashamed of a secret and feels uncomfortable in many situations, finding a way to hide her secret. When Georges tells to Sophie that he does not want Jeanne in his house, Sophie stands up against him. Melinda discovers her secret and Sophie blackmails her, but Melinda tells her parents what has happened. Georges fires Sophie and she returns to the house later with Jeanne on the rampage with tragic consequences.
"La Cérémonie" is one of the best films by Claude Chabrol and it is still impressive after watching many years after the release. The poignant story of class conflict, alienation and even evilness of two outcast working class women stays in the mind of the viewer since it might happen to anyone that has a maid at home. The unexpected violent conclusion is probably the source of inspiration for Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" (1997). It is impossible to the viewer to be not affected by the despicable and cruel behavior of the repressed Sophie and the envious Jeanne. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Mulheres Diabólicas" ("Evil Women")
Note: On 21 April 1999 I saw this film again.
Note On 08 May 2017 I saw this film again.
"La Cérémonie" is one of the best films by Claude Chabrol and it is still impressive after watching many years after the release. The poignant story of class conflict, alienation and even evilness of two outcast working class women stays in the mind of the viewer since it might happen to anyone that has a maid at home. The unexpected violent conclusion is probably the source of inspiration for Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" (1997). It is impossible to the viewer to be not affected by the despicable and cruel behavior of the repressed Sophie and the envious Jeanne. My vote is nine.
Title (Brazil): "Mulheres Diabólicas" ("Evil Women")
Note: On 21 April 1999 I saw this film again.
Note On 08 May 2017 I saw this film again.
helpful•2614
- claudio_carvalho
- Dec 29, 2011
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $873,196
- Gross worldwide
- $873,196
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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