Death and the Maiden | | Cast : | Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley | | Director : | Roman Polanski | | Studio : | New Line Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | January 01, 1994 | | DVD Released Date : | June 03, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | A passed over masterpiece | Content
 | Without going into obscene detail, I only need to impart the following:
One of the best adapted-to-screen plays I have ever seen.
Polanski, as usual knows exactly when to execute with style, and when to leave things alone and not let directorial vanity obstruct the flow of storytelling. He balances this to perfection.
The acting is of course unbelievable from all three leads.
A fantastic story as well as resulting film, and a shame that it somehow went under the radar of the fickle critical community. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 23, 2004 | | Summary | Good Acting, Good Sound, Good Images, and Heavy Story | Content
| One of what I consider the best movies. I just want to warn you that this movie deals with torturing a child sexually although the scene does not show it, in case you would like to avoid that topic.
The actors are acting so well that it feels almost real. What amazes me most is the fact that there are only three persons acting in the movie. With only three persons so much is going on, and story evolves, never letting me bored. This movie is very interesting, but I wouldn't watch it when I am in a gloomy mood. Also I would not show this movie to any child or young person.
This movie is about an intense anger/resentment and forgiveness. I do not know if it is realistic for a woman to be that courageous. The story itself, together with the excellent acting is quite intense, and I would not say it is entertaining, but it is a good movie.
No revenge can satisfy you, then what do you do? This movie is about forgiving unforgivable. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 13, 2004 | | Summary | Sad and serious and ultimately meaningful on many levels | Content
| This 1994 film was adapted from a play by Argentinean playwright Ariel Dorfman and was directed by Roman Polanski. Set in an unnamed South American country, three people are thrown together in an isolated house on a dark and stormy night. The woman, played by Sigourney Weaver is clearly troubled and sad. Her husband, played by Stuart Wilson, is late for dinner. Turns out he had a flat tire and a stranger helped him out. That stranger, who is a doctor, played by Ben Kingsley, soon befriends the husband. The woman thinks the stranger is the man who tortured her while she was a political prisoner many years before.
There is a new kinder and gentler government now, which is investigating atrocities from the past. The woman's husband is in charge of the investigation, which is basically focused on identifying bodies and is giving amnesty to many of the worst criminals. Naturally this complicates the situation.
What follows is not a simple story though because, throughout, questions are raised that have no easy answers. Is the doctor really the torturer or an innocent man? After all, it all happened at least ten or more years in the past and the woman has never actually seen her torturer's face as she had been blindfolded the whole time. The doctor declares his innocence. At times, he's even charming. But she has tied him up and is determined to get a confession out of him.
There are many interwoven themes. The basic one is wondering if the doctor is, indeed, the right man. But then there is the relationship between the husband and the wife. We discover he and his wife were both members of the revolution but only she was caught and tortured. He has been trying to make that up to her for their whole marriage. We also get to hear a lot about the details of the torture. It is chilling and disturbing and, even though the only violence in the film is against the suspect who is tied up, the woman's prison experience, which is only talked about and not shown, is excruciatingly painful to hear about.
There are other questions raised too. What happens to a society when it gives someone power over a helpless person? Now, we see the woman with power over the tied-up doctor. And we are forced to think about how this kind of power corrupts a whole society. This is a concept that is universal, as fresh today as it has always been. And the director certainly knows how to bring it out. All of the actors were sensational. I soon forgot they were performing and was completely swept into the story. I could feel the pain of all three characters as well as the horror of the electric shocks of the past.
The title comes from a string quartet by Franz Schubert called Death and the Maiden. This piece of music had been played during the woman's torture. She has found a tape of it in the doctor's car and plays it throughout. It helps to frame the action, right down to the film's excellent and satisfying conclusion.
I was surprised to discover that this film had won no significant awards and got little recognition when it was released. It wasn't even given a high rating from the critics. That's too bad. I think that it is an important film. I'm glad I discovered it though. It's sad and serious and ultimately meaningful on many levels. And I give it my very highest recommendation.
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| Rating | | | Date | August 19, 2004 | | Summary | A moral crossroad! | Content
| Polanski as images maker is unique . He is a superb film maker and in this case this notable adaptation of the Ariel Dorfman play .
First at all , the emotive nervous is powerful and only a talented director and an admirabble cast could take this material and become in an unforgettable film .
Sigorney Weaver has made the best and finest acting of his career with this haunting story .
Since her husband Gerard (Sam wilkinson) is hired to investigate a lot of political issues , he will meet to Miranda (Ben Kingsley), and for those curious coincidences she is really surprised due that voice sounds her familiar .
This initial suspect will turn in the awful true that will reveal the crudeness , the insanity and the excess of a merciless and absence of any scruple in the Government represive forces .
Watch the film coda in which we will see the couple in a Hall Concert listening the death and the maiden this glorious quartet of Franz Schubert . That cross of sights , seem to vanish , ignore and rejoin themselves in a final which states clearly several issues.
First there is in the air the attempt to sacrifice in the name of a future free of revenge , the right spirit of justice and prevailing of the truth .
But there is the sense of blame of Gerard concerned with the fact of avoiding to croos the line and not going to the last consequences of the investigation , in contrats with her who to her own way established her own behavior and punishment code out off record .
Watch that shocking and haunting film . One of the most remarkable films of that decade and an artistic triumph in itself .
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| Rating | | | Date | June 26, 2004 | | Summary | intense | Content
| this is the most intense movie i have ever seen. i thought my heart had stopped at the end. i don't want to give anything just watch it.... |
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