Rating: 
Summary: You definitly need some culture...
Review: This is a fantastic French masterpiece, for a French public.
I dont' say that you won't enjoy it, but rather that you need to get into a French open mind, good mood. THEN, and only THEN, you'll LOVE IT!Fantastic distribution, great classics. It's definitly the one to sing-along. And we classified it as a Rocky Horror Picture Show "friend". From the technical point of view, it's not a good film or DVD. No or few features. And you have to keep in mind that "8 women" is first of all a THEATRE CLASSIC! So you pretty much go to the theatre when you play it.
Rating:
Summary: Quirky Little Charmer of a Film
Review: If it weren't for the quality of the cast (Catherine Deneuve, Isabel Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Emmaunuelle Beart, et al) this lonely DVD might not capture the eye of the casual movie buyer/renter. But no matter the reason for watching this, here is a spoofy little surprise that once you allow yourself into relaxing into the parody and 50's sets/costumes/mindsets you'll hopefully find entrancing. The story is a simple one: a household of 8 women ranging from grandmaother through daughters and grandaughters to house staff are all implicated in a sudden murder of the 'man of the house'. How this plays out is part Agatha Christie and part 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg'! The biting dialogue is interspersed with songs (well sung and performed) until the murder is cleverly solved without anyone getting off untainted. A terrific little diversion with a true gallic flair for the surreal.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's be clear
Review: I'll make this very simple. I saw this in a small theater when it was first released. When the movie started there were 12 people in the audience. By the time I walked out (45 minutes later) there were 8. The most wasted 3/4 hour of my life. Avoid this unfunny sham like the plague.
Rating:
Summary: Absurd fun with some great performances
Review: First of all, an important note about the DVD. There's no English dub; it's in French with subtitles. I wouldn't *want* to watch this in a dubbed version, but American audiences are notoriously monolingual. At any rate, there aren't a lot of movies that belong on the same shelf with this musical murder mystery--perhaps the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but that's a stretch. This is basically an excuse to see some great actresses chew on the scenery. Deneuve is wonderful, of course, but Beart is positively breathtaking. The plot and the minute-by-minute revelations are really just an excuse for over-the-top acting and the movie's surreal musical numbers. It's great fun.
Rating:
Summary: Favorite Film of 2002....
Review: ...but I don't know why. The color (color!!) and the sets and the style and the flow of the story, along with striking performances, all add up to something much more than the sum of the parts. I rationally analyze every film I come across--have had 4 hour conversations (lectures) on movies like Mulholland Dr--yet can't explain the hold this film has on me. I wonder if others who have seen it might feel the same way? The DVD has no extras, which I was ok with because I was just happy to have it released in the US at all. The only reason the rating is not 5 stars is the unusually intrusive subtitles, which are placed too high in the frame and (strangely) cannot be turned off. They often obscure details one wants to see, like mouths in close-up shots. If this was a lesser film, if the visuals weren't so compelling and the acting performances so mesmerizing and fun, one wouldn't care so much about losing these details. Maybe if you haven't seen it in the theater, you won't be bothered by it as much.....
Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars for the movie, 0 for the DVD
Review: I just received the DVD and It's awful. It doesn't contains any extras (I wouldn't count the theatrical trailer as one). But that I was expecting. What really makes this DVD awful is that it comes with the option of Spanish subtitles, but since the English subtitles can't be removed, using the Spanish subtitles means watching the film with 2 subtitles (I don't know who came out with that idea), which also means seeing letters over the actresses faces.
If I hadn't loved this film I would be returning this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A Musical Extravaganza....oh yeah, and murder, too.
Review: What a surprise and delight it is to see a movie like "8 Femmes." Having seen this movie a bit ago in the theater here in Minneapolis, I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with it. A fan of Francois Ozon, I was at first apprehensive about it, most likely due to the emotional scars I still have after seeing "Sitcom," but "8 Femmes," is not like that film at all, and is in fact, like no other movie Ozon has made so far. The shining light of the film lies in the performances of the actresses, which can only be described as a meeting of the who's who of French actresses. Deneuve, Huppert, Beart, Ledoyen, Sagnier, and the others really create a film that is not only fun, but keeps us entranced and motivated to finally see "whodunnit." This is certainly a great example of how a movie can be both entertaining and fun without a lot of action. The dialogue is witty and sharp, the sets and costumes a great throwback to the film noir mysteries of the 50's. The musical numbers only add to the fun. Albeit silly, they seem to fit in place and add a great deal more charm to the overall film. It is a bit disappointing, though, to see that the US DVD release is not going to be getting the extravagent treatment that the DVD release in France got. I recently picked up the deluxe edition of the French release, which contains the movie, an extra disc packed completely full of special featurettes, cast interviews and more, a disc with a peformance of the play that the movie is based on, and the soundtrack on CD. Now, if only a release like that would come to the US....
Rating:
Summary: Witty use of asorted plots
Review: 8 Femmes is a movie composed of elements from comedy, film noir and musical. The setting is pretty 50s and 60s, with all those glamorous and colourful wardrobe in a finely decorated and sophisticated house. The story starts with the homecoming of an overseas student daughter for Christmas and the death of her father. The father actually didn't show his face much in the movie, but because of his death, all the women in the house become suspects of the case. At the same time, it seems that they were cut off from the outside world due to the bad snow storm outside and the careful work of the murderer in the house. All of a sudden, these women were suspecting each other, forcing each other to tell the truth and reveal their secrets, which all happened to be plots used by many typical 60s movies. As the threat comes closer and closer, everyone of them gave up their mask and show their real character to protect themselves, but would that really help, or just makes the case more complicated? In just one day, they found out all the love and hatred among them, and are psychological naked in front of each other. The interesting part was that each woman has their own theme song that comes out just from no where from time to time, which makes the movie awkward but funny at the same time. The dancing is very 60s but the lyrics are definitely woven into the storyline. The whole film was presented in a awkward but at the same time very unique look. People who look for a serious comedy will find it strange, people who look for a serious thriller will find it too light, people who look for a musical will find its musical elements not adequate to tell the story. However, this movie is a hybrid of all the above elements and this makes it stands out from other movies. Certainly, you will need to have a very open minded heart to watch this movie and try not to categorise it into any familiar genre, otherwise it will be a difficult movie for one to appreciate. If you can stay open in your movie experience, this is surely an enjoyable movie, despite its occasional messy moments.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh take on an old plot
Review: I really liked this film. It combines musical film with 1950's mystery. It's a fresh take on an old plot. It was also cool to see so many great French actresses in the same movie. Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, and Fanny Ardant steal the show, but all eight actresses turned in a nearly flawless performance. There are a lot of family secrets revealed along the way and the intricacies of the characters are played well. The ending is typically European but not an unfamiliar device to American theatre patrons.
Rating:
Summary: C'est Tres Fun!
Review: What a delight this movie is! Saw it last week on a whim at the local theater. A spoof of the whodunit movie, "8 Women" features eight of France's greatest actresses all trapped together in a luxurious mansion, where even the corpse is locked away. Who has knocked off poor Marcel upstairs? Cherchez la femme! So along the way, all sorts of shocking confessions are made, but never any of murder, that is, until...! A great treat is that the action is set in the 1950s, with glorious technicolor-type photography and fetching haute couture costumes for all concerned. When I was recommending this to my brother, all I seemed to keep repeating was, "What a beautiful woman Catherine Deneuve is!" I don't know how old she is now, I suppose in her 50s somewhere, but my golly, she's breath-taking still, especially as she's coiffed and wardrobed here. And even if this great photography and costuming weren't enough, it's a musical! I was at first dumbfounded when the first number broke out, with Deneuve joining her two daughters in a wacky song and dance number. "What does this mean?", I asked my popcorn. Well, it's no "Sound of Music", but you get used to all the star turns, as every diva gets her number. There WAS one that I thought was genuinely good, the song the humiliated maid (you gotta see it to find out how that happened) sings, "So As Not To Be Alone", a lament about what people will do to avoid loneliness. I thought the poetry touching and apt for that one. If you're game for absurdism in the guise of Lush Life 1950s movies, then "8 Women"'s got your number!
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