Hell Details

 

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Typically existentialist French film

In a previous film with the same French title (Claude Chabrol's 1994 film L'Enfer) Emmanuelle Beart played a woman stalked by her own obsessively jealous husband, who is convinced that she is having an affair. In the present film, Emmanuelle Beart plays a woman, who is obsessively jealous of her husband, who she believes is having an affair! However, here the similarities end. Hell is about far more than the failings of one marriage. It's not really about relationships either. Although there are three sisters who are each involved in their own 'love story', the core of the film is the children's attitude toward their parents; in particular their father who was mysteriously jailed for doing something which their mother cannot forgive. The mother is a cripple who has been put in a nursing home. She cannot speak and communicates by writing on a notepad. Only one of the three sisters, Celine, regularly visits her and this seems to be done purely out of a sense of duty. The relationship between the sisters is not much better. They live separate lives and have not seen each other in years. Sophie, the oldest of the three is a housewife with two of her own children. Anne, the youngest sister is a philosophy student who is involved with her middle-aged tutor. We meet the professor as he is giving a lecture about the differences between chance and fate in literature and life, and hear his view that on aesthetic considerations alone, fate should always be preferred ahead of chance. Therefore to die as a result of an accident is the worst death possible. Yes, this is a typically existentialist French film, all about death and the far-reaching consequences of making choices.

Fans of French Cinema, especially those who have liked previous Emmanuelle Beart films such as ‘L’Enfer’, ‘Un Coeur En Hiver’, ‘La Belle Noiseuse’ and ‘Nelly and Mr Arnaud’ will probably enjoy this one.... read more »

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Give it a miss

I've become a bit of a fan of French cinema but this one really was hard work. Several strands slowly weave together excrutiatingly slowly and, if you ... read more »

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hell hath no fury... period

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS | Show review anywayHide

Relationships are hellish things since you cannot be sure where they have originated. Three sisters have men troubles and life has been less than easy on every ... read more »

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• 4
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Truly shocking and shockingly believable

This is the terrible story of one family, told through flashbacks and the adult daughters' appalling attempts at relationships.

In true French ... read more »

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