Sister My Sister

Starring:Julie Walters, Joely Richardson, Jodhi May, Sophie Thursfield, Amelda Brown, Lucita Pope, Kate Gartside, Aimee Schmidt, Gabriella Schmidt
Director: Nancy Meckler
Studio: KOCH LORBER FILMS
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Two innocent sisters from Ohio hit Greenwich Village and must cope with wall-shaking subway construction, the neighborhood kooks, and a whopping $65 a month for an apartment. My Sister Eileen is one of those "Look out, world, we're conquering Manhattan!" movies, with Betty Garrett as a plain, would-be writer and Janet Leigh as her knockout sister, an aspiring actress who draws men like milk draws kittens. The 1955 movie's well-scrubbed Greenwich Village is a delightful fantasy playground. The city was never like this, but it probably should have been. In one of his early roles, Jack Lemmon (crooning one of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin songs quite charmingly) plays a magazine publisher, one of the many Young Men with Ideas he would play in the subsequent decade. Even more interesting is the presence of future director Bob Fosse, as a soda jerk who romances Leigh. Fosse also choreographed the film's musical numbers, and his dances include a delightful quartet at a bandstand and a sensational showdown with Tommy Rall. Fosse and Rall try to outdo each other in a male rivalry dance that will remind Fosse fans of his obsession with hats. The breezy direction is by Richard Quine, who cowrote the script with another future director, Blake Edwards. The original source material, stories by Ruth McKenney, formed the basis for a play and a nonmusical 1942 Rosalind Russell movie, also called My Sister Eileen (in which Quine played the Fosse role); there was a Broadway musical adaptation of the stories, Wonderful Town, which is not related to this film. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

it takes me back.......2005-08-04

I saw this movie when I was a teenager and going to the movies was a big thing for me then-----what I remember best about it was the terrific dancing----and, of course, who could ever get tired of looking at Janet Leigh---seeing it again enables one to look at it more closely and realize how really enjoyable it is.

Ruth, Eileen and their 'wonderful town'..........2005-05-04

MY SISTER EILEEN was Columbia's answer when they could not secure the film rights to WONDERFUL TOWN, the hugely-successful Broadway musical version of Ruth McKenney's "Eileen Stories". Columbia had previously filmed MY SISTER EILEEN to acclaim in 1942 with Rosalind Russell as Ruth and Janet Blair as Eileen. Roz later wowed Broadway when she made her musical Ruth debut in WONDERFUL TOWN in 1953 (playing the role again for a TV version of the tuner in 1957). This musical version of MY SISTER EILEEN features a score that cannot even compare with that for WONDERFUL TOWN (despite the music by Jule Styne - `Mr Broadway Overture' himself).

Betty Garrett is good casting for the role of plain-speaking Ruth, and Janet Leigh makes the role of flirty Eileen her own. Jack Lemmon plays Ruth's boss Bob Baker (he has a charming musical style) whilst Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall play two suitors competing for Eileen's hand. Dick York (of `Bewitched' fame) plays the girls' helpful footballing-neighbour Wreck and Kurt Kasznar plays the double-talking landlord Appopolous to perfection. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The DVD presents a great new anamorphic print of the film. Extras consist of the original trailer plus trailers of other classic Columbia releases.

A charming, screwball musical.......2002-12-21

Most folks will pay attention to this film becuase it's an early piece by choreographer Bob Fosse -- but it is a fun bit of froth that easily stands on its own. An absolutely delightful musical comedy, starring Betty Garrett as a smart smalltown girl determined to make it in New York City. She moves there with her with her glamourous, ditzy sister Eileen, whose good looks open more doors than do Garrett's brains and moxie. A nice film about struggling to get ahead in the Big Apple, with a script that takes its time and several exuberently goofy dance numbers, gleefully choreographed by a young Bob Fosse, who also plays one of the sister's avid suitors. The penultimate dance scene is side-splittingly hilarious, featuring a swarm of recently disembarked Cuban sailors on the prowl for American women, who form an inexhaustable conga line that snakes chaotically through the gal's tiny apartment. Thoroughly entertaining... a great, lighthearted film with some fabulous acting and bright, winning performances by all involved.

Entertaining Classic!.......2001-07-04

What a great movie! It is refreshing to see so much energy brought to the silver screen. The casting makes this movie! It has something for everyone: dancing, singing, funny misunderstandings, apartment problems and much more. This movie provides the entire family with good clean entertainment which is almost extinct in today's Hollywood. Jack Lemmon is wonderful opposite Betty Garrett. Janet Leigh also does a superb job as the sister with everything!

Watching a young Bob Fosse dance is incredible.......1999-11-08

A great cast with Jack Lemon and Betty Garrett doing a great job together and Bob Fosse showing why he is among the greatest dancers of our time.

Riding The Bus With My Sister - Gold Crown Collector's Edition

Average customer rating:

A ridiculous movie
A Known Thespian: O'Donnell Nails It!
coooooooooooooookie mountain
The Editors are CLAZY!

Riding The Bus With My Sister - Gold Crown Collector's Edition
Starring: Rosie O'Donnell , and Andie MacDowell
Manufacturer: Hallmark Hall of Fame
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey
My Sister's Keeper (2002)
The Other Sister
The Boys Next Door
Fallen Angel

ASIN: B000CCJOA8

Product Description

Rosie O'Donnell can act. She was great as the wiseacre in A League of Their Own and passable in a similar role in the sequel to Stakeout. Since I'm being generous, her talk show was even entertaining at times, if you go in for that celebrity-fawning type of thing. But this performance is so embarrassingly awful you might question whether she is indeed acting or if she has been struck with what her character suffers from. How else to explain her choices? Mismatched pastel Chuck Taylors with a Tweety Bird T-shirt? A voice somewhere between Pee-wee Herman and Yoda, but without the likability? If Rosie really wanted to do something for the mentally challenged, she would have stuck to executive producing and hired an actual mentally challenged actor. It's not like they could do any worse. From the Forrest Gump pose on a bench on the DVD cover to the Rainmanesque quips, she seems to be changing her characterization every scene. And let's not forget who directed? John Huston's very own daughter. I mean Anjelica Huston must have watched her dad's films. She was practically married to Jack Nicholson so she must have watched his films. Do you not think just a little bit of that talent might have rubbed off on her? This is clearly ego run amok. High-profile celebrities trying "to make a difference" but just demonstrating how woefully out-of-touch they are.

Customer Reviews:

A ridiculous movie.......2006-04-05

It always facinates me when celebritys play learning disabled, retarded, depressed,etc... people. This is because I have to assume that none of these people live in hollywood. I used to think that Sean Penn's portrayal of a retarded man in "I Am Sam" was the most over the top porly done, insulting performance but Rosie blew him out of the water. Apparently retarded women only talk as though they are screaming, and also sound like Jim the Drunk from the TV show "Taxi". I guess they couldn't cast a real retarded person because apparently they don't act retarded enough. Buy this movie for the same reason you would buy a copy of the movie "Showgirls" so you can laugh at how idiotic it is. Andy MacDowell has a limited range but is usually very good at picking rolls for herself, and I have liked Rosie in other movies like Legue of their own and Another Stakeout but this was torture to sit through.

A Known Thespian: O'Donnell Nails It!.......2006-04-01

Heroic! Courageous! Brave! Daring! These are all words I would use to describe you, if you were able to sit through this tour de force of a performance by Rosie O'Donnell. Not because it's so bad as some have suggested, but because you will NEVER forget this film. Rosie has not only elevated her acting skills, she elevates the viewer as well to a place I like to call "Rosie O'Nirvana." I have always been a fan of Rosie's super subtle, light on humor standup act, but her performance here puts her in the company of Dustin Hoffman and Daniel Day Lewis. If they were in the same airport bus. Her performance is never so cloying and over-the-top that I have to catch my breath after her scenes because they are uncomfortable to view. And to those out there who suggested it, NO This should not be rated X due to the fact that it may shock you, disgust you and disturb you. It will, but in a good way. I also want to salute Angelo Tsarouchas for his performance as Mean Eugene though -- it was superior.

coooooooooooooookie mountain.......2006-01-09

Rosie is my hero. I was planning my own suicide the very night of the day i stumbled across this masterpiece. It inspired in me a will to live once again. I think we all need to try to be a bit more like beth with her colorful clothing and loud antics as she brightens everyone's day around her. I was brought to tears as from just simple cookies she was able to create a mountain from her own imagination. That right there showed how beth, despite her disabilities, can make something out of nothing as she takes on the world with her positive outlook.

The Editors are CLAZY!.......2006-01-06

I don't know who Amazon's "Editorial Reviewer" is, but I'm here to set the record straight. In my life, which has been filled with mystery, intrigue and Down Syndrome, I have yet to see a more poignant story than "Riding the Bus with My Sister." B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T. Rosie. Words cannot express the emotions running through my body this second. I don't care what the critics say, we'll let the Academy Awards decide who's right this time. Until the day that this masterpiece finds it's place in the sun, I'll be here riding the bus with my sister.

Average customer rating:

NAMI Media Award Winner
Jan Linder-Koda in the movie

My Sister's Keeper (2002)
Starring: Kathy Bates , Elizabeth Perkins , Lynn Redgrave , Kimberly J. Brown , and Hallee Hirsh
Director: Ron Lagomarsino
Manufacturer: Hallmark
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Runaway
The Locket
The Seventh Stream
Little John
Follow The Stars Home

ASIN: B000065U2X
Release Date: 2002-06-18

Customer Reviews:

NAMI Media Award Winner.......2003-11-28

NAMI: The Nation's Voice on Mental Illness (www.nami.org) honored this movie with a 2001 Outstanding Media Award. it's excellent. A non-stereotyped portrayal of a person with mental illness and an at times difficult, but loving relationship with her sister. A true story. Book by the same name. It both opens minds and entertains. Great acting by Kathy Bates: an informative contrast to her role in the movie Misery.

Jan Linder-Koda in the movie.......2003-05-09

I love this movie. I got to play my scene with Both major stars. The work is superb. I love acting in this film

Average customer rating:

ZZZZZZ!
Love Conquers All!
If You Liked Pretty Woman...
i love Charlotte Gainsbourg
THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY PEOPLE

My Wife Is an Actress
Starring: Jean Abelanski , Lionel Abelanski , Keith Allen , Aurélie Babled , and Laurent Bateau (II)
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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Love Etc.
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La Buche
Lemming
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ASIN: B00006RZ2W
Release Date: 2002-12-10

Amazon.com

A slight but appealing dramatic comedy, My Wife Is an Actress explores the marital downside of fame. It's about the hazards of being married to someone--in this case the fine French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, playing a fictionalized version of herself, also named Charlotte--whose profession and celebrity pose a constant threat to matrimonial harmony. The movie dispels the fantasy of a movie-star spouse (i.e., would you really want to marry Julia Roberts?), exploring the reality with adequate humor but precious little insight. Gainsbourg's actual husband, Yvan Attal, is also her director and costar, playing Charlotte's sports-reporter husband (named Yvan), and turning jealous when she gets friendly with her current film's costar, played with world-weary charm by Terence Stamp. Surely this scenario was fascinating for French filmgoers, and as lightweight drama it's a pleasant enough diversion. Unfortunately, Attal discreetly avoids the deeper details of his life. Instead we get the shallow version, still authentic but not authentic enough. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

ZZZZZZ! .......2005-05-06

I love Charlotte Gainsborough, but this movie was not only way too slow and drawn out as French movies often are, but also surprisingly very commonplace! The plot could've easily been taken from any run of the mill American B-movie or made-for-TV movie, there was nothing even particularly "French" about it other than the fact that it's set in Paris and the characters speak French, other than the usual fits of French hyper/melodrama here and there.

Normally I enjoy European cinema, but this one made me long for a nice Tarantino movie...

Love Conquers All!.......2004-11-06

A pleasant movie, with some very funny spots. Is the job of being an actress just like any other job? In the end, according to this movie, it is . . . but I can sympathize with her husband who suffers what he considers the indignity of being a non-entity when he is with her. European actresses are not necessarily as glamorous as American actresses, and that has something to do with it too. An American actress in America would most likely not be able to have anything like a "normal" life, but it is different in Europe. An enjoyable couple of hours . . I would recommend it.

If You Liked Pretty Woman..........2004-10-01

Then you'd probably love this movie.
Not much in terms of plot construction, vague character development and shoddy resolution. All in all it has the makings of a great Hollywood remake.
Oh, but dig the train- they must have spent a fortune on first class tickets! (actually, I'm sure it was all studio shot except for the exterior scenes)

i love Charlotte Gainsbourg.......2004-09-26

This movie is somewhat enjoyable, but nothing great. However, Charlotte Gainsbourg is uniquely beautiful and capitivating, and steals the movie and my heart. Worth seeing, just for her.

THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY PEOPLE.......2004-06-02

Yvan Attal, the French Woody Allen? Maybe. What's wrong with this film? Well, it doesn't amount to much. It's frivolous and unimportant. It needs a little Allen sermonizing on love and life to put a heart in the center of it's romantic spirit. What's right with this film? It's an engaging superficial comedic collage viewed as one would a not-very-deep but pleasing French painting of, say, summer people with parasols on a beach, or maybe a bird in a cage looking out the window to a beautiful morning while a lady with grey hair knits nearby. Suffice to say, I love this film. Director, writer and star Yvan Attal, who casts his real life wife, Charlotte Gainsbourg opposite him, is a comedic marvel, like a juggling, dancing all purpose clown at center stage of the circus refusing to let our eyes wander, as his ordinary life begins to unravel when he suddenly discovers a jealous streak towards his wife's romantic celebrity status. That is the thrust of the plot, but it all keeps rolling along in big, and little and sometimes contrived funny bits that pay off well.

Average customer rating:

Reality Bites
ZZZzzzzzzzz.............
Scrupulous but unrewarding
Intelligent and Wonderfully Brillant Cinema
Reality Never Tasted So Good

My Favorite Season
Starring: Catherine Deneuve , Daniel Auteuil , Marthe Villalonga , Jean-Pierre Bouvier , and Chiara Mastroianni
Director: André Téchiné
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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La Separation
Place Vendome
Nearest To Heaven
Thieves
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ASIN: 1572522135
Release Date: 1998-01-14

Amazon.com

A troubled family, living in genteel, suburban comfort in the south of France is jolted by the deteriorating health of their elderly grandmother and the reappearance of an absented sibling. Catherine Deneuve plays Emilie, a disillusioned parent and frustrated wife, who finds herself drawn away from her unimaginative husband toward her brother, a jealous and charismatic neurosurgeon. Structured like a novella with four chapters, Téchiné's film is riddled with long stretches of ponderous, often humorless, philosophical dialogue. Deneuve's Emilie remains inexpressive and remote; she occupies the moral center of the film, but her characterization isn't generous enough to grant us access to her motivations. Daniel Auteuil fares better as brother Antoine--his odd features and intelligent eyes communicate fathomless restlessness and longing. Spectacular, jaw-dropping footage of Southern France provides a gorgeous backdrop for many scenes, lending a depth and resonance that might otherwise be lacking. Bonus: Marcello Mastroianni's daughter Chiara portrays Emilie's daughter; she's a delight to watch and she acquits herself marvelously. --Miles Bethany

Customer Reviews:

Reality Bites.......2006-03-02

And so does this piece of pretentious trash! Half-hearted plodding thru a directionless plot by has-beens and wannabe's. The music (what music?) was just as mindless. This movie had so much unleased potential that it was almost torture to watch. I gave it one star for the nice scenery.

ZZZzzzzzzzz....................2005-07-05

I can't resist a movie with Catherine Deneuve - now I may be able to. A boring little tale of the spiraling sickness of an aged parent, unfeeling self-absorbed family, doomed, passionless marriage and a hint of incest. I gave it an extra star because, well it is Catherine after all. Rent it if you're desperate, but do not buy unless you're a masochist.

Scrupulous but unrewarding.......2004-03-22

"My son is a surgeon, my daughter a lawyer. I have children who achieved something. I took much care of them when they were young". (The mother, afer her children sent her off to a home for the aged).

"I saw to it that she has a tv-set in her room".(The daughter, trying to soothe her conscience).

Emilie (Catherine Deneuve) and her brother Antoine (Daniel Auteuil) have not seen each other in three years, but their mother's (Marthe Villalonga) stroke brings them together again. Emilie decides to assume her responsibility and lodge her mother at her house, a solution that makes no one happy. Emilie's marriage exists on paper only and she has difficulties in establishing personal contacts with her grown-up children. Her mother is not very sociable either, and feels like an alien element in her daughter's family. Christmas arrives and when Antoine's quarrel with Emilie's husband turns into a brawl Emilie decides to give up her marriage and her mother packs and moves in with her son. But their living together fails equally. She has the feeling the her son is angry with her: "Have I kept him from living? Little pleasures?". She decides to go home.

Summer arrives and the second stroke. The mother is outwardly composed when she takes place in the car that drives her to her new home. She is so resigned that she killed all her chicken before leaving her house for the last time. She shows no interest for the landscape or her children's incessant talking.

Antoine tries to convince his sister to go to live with him: "We have two brains from one womb" but she hesitates: "I'm afraid of you, Antoine!". The siblings buckle under the nervous strain while their mother is nearly frantic: Her physical condition is serious enough, but the company of senile and mentally disturbed patients finishes her off...

Ah! Why can't director Andre Techine be a little bit more like Claude Chabrol? Chabrol, in Techine's place would have built up an ominous atmosphere and let the audience suspect that something alarming and unspeakable is going on...But Techine has the bad habit of waving a bait (incest) in front of the audience and then leading them up the garden path. The film is well constructed (the four seasons) and the shots look like a perfect dream. The subject - two siblings don't know how to handle their mother and their own fear of old age - can't fail to touch and the performances of the elder generation are marvelous. Villalonga is resolute but ultimately embittered and her dogged attempts to retain her mental faculties are heartbreaking. Deneuve gives one of her greatest performances: warm and noble, trying to give proof of moral strength, outraged to be forced in the defensive and feel guilty about things she cannot change. Sometimes we catch Auteuil at an "arriere pensee" when he unmasks his feelings in his cryptic monologues. He becomes more and more erratic and suddenly he cracks up. But this is just one side of the film. The scenes with the younger generation seem not directed at all, as if the director told them: Folks, you're free. Do your own thing. The scene when Deneuve's son invites his girlfriend to strip in front of his sister (Deneuve's own daughter Chiara) is especially repellent, and Deneuve's "bed-scene" on a park-bench is sickening and unmotivated (The motive was of course to pep a static film up). MA SAISON PREFEREE is a very unrewarding film. High production values but big disappointment. I wish this film were trash, so that I can trample on it. Since it isn't I feel blackmailed...

Intelligent and Wonderfully Brillant Cinema.......2004-02-18

This review refers to the Fox Lorber DVD edition of "My Favorite Season"....

"My Favorite Season" is a wonderful piece of French filmmaking.The intelligent and subtle screenplay, the brillant cast, the beautiful setting of the French countryside,marvelous music, all under the expert direction of Andre Techine, had me hanging on every word,left me wanting more of this exquiste film, and thinking about it for quite some time afterwards.

Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil, work beautifully together as Emilie and Antoine, brother and sister trying to cope with a very dysfunctional family life, their own troubled relationship and the declining health of their aging mother.This is a family that tries very hard to just like one another, and with the passsing of each season,the changes in their lives run a gamut of emotions. Deneuve, Auteuil, and the rest of this outstanding cast will draw you in with their intuitive performances.It is a film that will involve you from the first frame to the last.

Fox Lorber has a knack for selecting and bringing to DVD some of the best international works out there. "My Favorite Season" is among the best of those. Overall, the DVD presents a nice clear picture in widescreen. The film is in French with subtitles in English. I did not see any way to delete the subtitles though. A trailer, and biographies are also included.

A wonderful emotional drama, and fine piece of filmmaking...enjoy...Laurie

Reality Never Tasted So Good.......2002-12-27

My Favorite Season is a film by Andre Techine. It depicts a dysfunctional French family as they come to grips with life in post-Vichy southern France. I'm kidding of course, the film has nothing to do with French Fascism, except in the sense that that period in history led up to the events depicted in the film, and if there had been no German occupation and Vichy government, this film would have been greatly different.

As to the film, it is lyrical and hypnotic. If this is what the French think of as dysfunction, then I am moving to France, because dysfunction never tasted so sweet. This is one of the greatest movies ever made, and here's why:

Amazon.com

Christine (Joely Richardson) and Lea (Jodhi May) are sisters who were separated at a young age. Through Christine's clever machinations, they have been reunited by working as maids for a very proper lady and her bored and restless daughter. When the already passionate bond between the sisters becomes sexual, it sets up a series of events that lead to tragedy. Set in 1932 France, this film is supposedly based on a true story. Viewers looking for a sort of Playboy meets Merchant-Ivory romp will have to look elsewhere--the sex here is very discreet. Instead what we get is a nifty little piece of suspense and psychological horror that features taut direction, a smart script, spotless production values, and a topnotch cast. Julie Walters is marvelously funny--and scary--as the lady of the house who "sees everything" (but actually can't see beyond the tip of her nose), and Joely Richardson is heartbreaking as a seemingly self-reliant woman who is terrified of having her sister taken away again. --Geof Miller

Customer Reviews:

Finally...A Vehicle That Makes Housework Look Interesting.......2007-05-19

This is the film that served as my belated introduction to France's Papin Sisters, Lea and Christine. When in their twenties, they viciously murdered their employer and her unfortunate daughter, while monsieur was away. "Sister My Sister", written by one Wendy Kesselman, leaves monsieur out, replaces the relatively unattractive Papins with two photogenic British actresses, and proceeds to be both ominously claustrophobic and extremely erotic--all despite, alas, both girls remaining clothed. Joely Richardson (daughter of Vanessa Redgrave) and a very young Jodhi May give monumental performances; and the chemistry between the two is quite extraordinary. Early on in the film, it becomes apparent that this is far from your run-of-the mill sisterly relationship, when, after a quarrel over their despotic and devisive mother, Lea and Christine begin acting conspicuously like lovers. As their incestuous (not to mention lesbian) romance blossoms, we become aquainted with The Danzards, a pathetic, utterly dysfuntional, co-dependent mother and daughter, who, in comparision, make their servants seem almost normal. They spend entirely too much time cooped up together in their gloomy, forebidding, rain-drenched home, with nothing better to do than play the piano (badly), engage in meaningless card games(meaningless except for the one intercut with the sisters making love upstairs), and pry into the comings and goings of the increasingly distracted Lea and Christine. (I simply couldn't regret their murders, except for the disaster they would end up bringing to our, uh, heroines.)

Cheap-Looking, Some Creepy Moments but Very Disappointing.......2006-12-19

I wanted to like this movie. Originally, I looked at it like this. The premise sounded kind of creepy, so I'd probably like it for the plot...If not, I could always fall back on the lesbian scenes. After all, the cover of the film itself suggests that it contains that kind of content in abundance. I was wrong on both counts. The movie is only 85 minutes long, but it seems drawn out.
The plot is based on a true story and is about a maid named Christine (Joely Richardson), who brings her sister Lea (Jodhi May) to work with her in the house of Madame Danzard (Julie Walters) and her daughter Isabelle (Sophie Thursfield). Madame and Isabelle like the two sisters, they're quiet and rarely speak, except to each other. But the two sisters have a clear sexual tension with each other, which soon leads to a lesbian/incestual love affair...And murder. The acting here is excellent; Standouts were Walters and Richardson, but all of it is great. The picture-quality of the DVD is kind of shoddy, or it might haaave just been the cinematography. The biggest problem with the plot is that, when it comes down to it, you don't really care.
You don't like Madame and Isabelle and Lea & Christine tend to come off as pathetic and, obviously, mentally disturbed. There's no nudity in the film, which is an obvious attempt not to sensationalize their affair. Some people have called the movie haunting. Most of the early scenes are not, the ending is...It's haunting, but it's also over-the-top. If a psychiatrist were to sum up the film, it would be something along the lines of: Two mentally disturbed sisters harboring an incestual love for each other, begin having sexual relations in the house of their employers...Two mean and nasty mother and daughter rich women. If that sounds interesting, go for it...But most of the scenes in the film just seem like an excuse to come to the big finale. It's not a terrible film. It has its good moments and its bad moments (like all films). The bad moments can't even really be defined that way. It's got a lot of boring, dull moments though.

GRADE: C-

"Have you noticed they don't speak anymore?".......2006-10-08

"Sister My Sister" directed by Nancy Meckler is a British film based on the gruesome murders committed by the Papin sisters in France in the 1930s. When the film begins, Christine (Joely Richardson) is working as a maid at the home of Madame Danzard and her daughter. Christine persuades Madame Danzard (Julie Walters) to also employ her younger sister Lea (Johdi May). Madame Danzard is at first thrilled with the prospect of employing both sisters. The convent-raised maids are quiet, docile, industrious and excellent seamstresses. Christine and Lea Papin are portrayed as abnormally close sisters, with Christine as the dominant, overly protective one of the pair. Madame Danzard brags to her daughter that they'll be the envy of their acquaintances as the maids are "pearls" and what's more to the point, it's "two for the price of one."

Madame Danzard's delight at her new maids soon turns sour. A controlling, petty woman who can't even stand her own daughter, Isabelle (Sophie Thursfield), Madame Danzard is constantly picking at the maids, humiliating them and discussing them in front of others as though they are inanimate objects. Scenes emphasize the humiliations and punishments the maids suffer on a regular basis.

"Sister My Sister" offers a generous, sympathetic--albeit inaccurate--portrayal of the sisters. The sisters are portrayed as attractive girls, and there are hints that Madame Danzard believes they are dressing above their 'station.' This is a particularly sensitive subject for Madame Danzard as her own daughter, Isabelle, is portrayed as dumpy, clumsy and unmarriageable. The French film "Murderous Maids" is another version of the notorious crime which while still sympathetic to the sisters presents additional background material on the girls' upbringing, and their careers prior to their employment with an ill-fated employer (whose real name was Madame Lancelin). And this additional focus makes "Murderous Maids" a slightly more accurate version of the real-life event. Both films capitalize on the inherently unhealthy master/servant situation, but "Sister My Sister", is vastly more entertaining--thanks to the marvelous performance of Julie Walters as the petty, spiteful, and slightly sadistic Madame Danzard. "Murderous Maids" is almost too painful to watch at times, but "Sister My Sister" concentrates on the pathological relationships between four slightly deranged women and the catastrophic consequences of them all living in the same house--displacedhuman

Great Movie! All Wymn Cast.......2006-10-06

Not only is this movie great because of the excellent acting and convincing roles that the two lovely actresses take hold of. but, it is also great that this film was a cast of all wymn. also i have been following jodhi may's acting career for some time now. She is a outstanding actress and has great brillance (double wammy). I'm not going to talk to much about the story line. However, i will say that it's basically about two sisters living under the thumb of an noisey and wicked wymn that refused to treat them as equals. the two sisters devolope an intense realationship (taboo). and i'll leave the rest for your imagination. however, i will say this: it is a tasteful well done film. there are NO part that just don't need to be there.

The notorious Papin sister murder case well-explored.......2006-02-03

There is a saying that damaged people are very dangerous. One extreme case of damage turning people dangerous is the famous case of France's Christine and Lea Papin, who shocked the nation in 1933 by not merely committing murder, but by doing so with such violence that no one could really understand what had happened, "Sister My Sister" is a very accurate, fascinating psychological study of four women in le France profound, a small provincial town where class rules, family behavior, Catholic restrictions combined to make life so circumscribed that any sort of freedom was impossible, even in one's own home. This fact is addressed with light charm in the film "Chocolat" where chocolate-eating equals sinning (unthinkable to us!) and being "different" is nearly criminal, but to those who lived in these places in the not so distant past, one's life was never unscrutinized by someone, somewhere, and for domestics, the mistress or master of the house could become a genuine tyrant, terrorizing the staff into desperation. For those who could not escape to a loving family, or Paris, or any place but where they were stuck, life had to be lived as best as possible. In fact, the costume designer of "Chocolat" pointed out that in the towns they scouted, people were still dressed in clothes from the 1st half of the century; change is slow and progress practically non-existent.

The two sisters, powerfully portrayed by Joely Richardson as the elder Christine, and Jodhi May as the younger, Lea, have only one another for the most part. Their mother,seen abandoning Christine at the start of the film, is an enemy to Christine who, once Lea joins her, encourages Lea to break her ties to her mother immediately. The mother rejected all her daughters, seemingly hating and especially rejecting Christine (see "The Papin Sisters" by Rachel Edwards & Keith Reader), placing her in an orphanage at an early age, and later valuing her only for the money she could earn as a maid. Her mother`s contempt, contrasted with her treatment of Lea (who was also placed in an orphanage, but visited and lovingly corresponded with), and who was petted and sometime held, stimulated intense jealousy in Christine, who both loved and loathed her Maman. At the time the story starts, Lea has been rescued from the orphanage, as Christine has contrived to talk the mistress of the house, Madame Lancelin (Danzard in this film), to hire her as a second domestic. Julie Walters as Madame alternates between a sort of genuine joie de vivre that sometimes becomes hysteria, and a controlled cruelty that astonishes and hurts her two maids and even her deeply imperfect daughter (she's chubby and not always perfectly behaved, as young girls are wont to be).

The relationship between the sisters is already fraught with tension, as Christine is always on the edge of an explosion having lived a loveless, empty life of servitude and repeated rejections, and now holds herself in so tightly it's as though she's bound herself up in razor-wire. Richardson communicates this through the intense and forced stillness of her body. One imagines that by the end of a day's shoot, the actress needed an hour-long shower and long massage just to be able to bend over and touch her toes. Christine is also still holding a raging jealousy in check, furious with Lea for continuing to correspond with their mother and furious with their mother for taking their very hard-earned money. She's even jealous when Lea makes tentative contact with Madame's daughter, Isabelle. Unfortunately, it is quickly apparent that Lea's arrival provides no relaxation, but rather an increased tension as Christine tries to hold her love, both appropriate and inappropriately possessive, in check, until it is released through physical passion. Their incestuous relationship seems born of desperation on Christine's part--the need to possess totally her sister, and on Lea's, the natural need for physical contact and natural emerging sexuality. Christine has filled the years of waiting for Lea by making gorgeous lace clothing for her, a trousseau almost, and when she tries on the first of the lovely garments, her beauty overwhelms Christine, who seems nearly out of her mind with tormented worship of her young sister, while Lea seems merely curious and desirous of pleasure. But there is very little overt sexuality, only intense, tightly held passion, so if you're looking for a voyeuristic lesbian peep-show, you'll be disappointed. But if you're interested in a genuine attempt to unravel this psychological puzzle, "Sister My Sister" is the real deal.

The victims, the employer and her late adolescent daughter, Isabelle are the other two women in this man-less world (the girls' father abandoned the family when they were tiny), and M. Lancelin has been left out of this film, though it's never stated that he's dead or divorced--merely not there for any of the scenes we see. In reality, it was he who came home to find his wife and daughter horribly murdered and mutilated, and knowing that makes his absence seem more psychological than physical. The sisters never speak to their employers, who are themselves locked in an intense, controlling relationship, where the daughter has no freedom at the moment, nor any real prospects for marriage--Isabelle seems to have no friends, they have no company, they are alone together all the time--so the claustrophobic sense of the house grows as the four of them seemed locked in, like inmates in an asylum, which is what Director Nancy Meckler makes the home feel like. Between Madame's tendency to hysteria, her daughter's sullenness, Christine's barely reined-in hatred of everyone but Lea, and Lea's constant terror (which started in the lonely orphanage and haunts her with nightmares and a deep fear of punishment by Madame and of Christine`s sudden jealous rages), the disaster at the end of the end of the road seems inevitable.

Class lines keep the girls and their employers inextricably separate. Madame speaks about them in their presence as though they're invisible, yet she never takes her eyes off the two of them. In fact, the theme of omniscience, of the never-ceasing and always critical gaze of Madame and her daughter, the sense that their mother is "watching" them from afar, the constant vigilance for sin in the nun-operated orphanage that remains with them well into their adulthood, their constant fear of always of being judged and always judged ill, creates a tension in the house that builds to breaking point. Even Christine never stops watching and judging herself, disallowing imperfection in even the smallest thing, and alternately scrutinizing Lea, looking for the betrayal she's certain will come and exploding in small furies at her, then watching her for mistakes so that she can cover for Lea to protect her from Madame`s increasingly distressing criticisms. Lea's choice to wear a sweater made for her by Christine causes Madame to become outraged, especially at the good quality of the wool--inappropriate for a mere maid--yet she speaks that outrage to her daughter rather than to the present Lea, saying, "How dare she wear such a thing? Who does she think she is?" again reinforcing the boundaries of class. Their uniforms must be perfect, every bit of work they do must be perfect--a speck of dust is cause for serious and seemingly out of proportion anger on the part of Madame; finally a minor (to us) but calamitous (to them) housekeeping disaster breaks the high-wire they're all walking, and the tension breaks into explosive rage. Madame's nearly final words about the maids, as they come in from a Sunday outing and huddle together without speaking to either of the other two women as they pass them, is "They don't even look like maids any more." This seems to genuinely offend (and puzzle) Madame. Somehow, the maids have passed out of her knowledge, and by doing so have made her a real enemy, as their mother has been.

Interestingly, it was Madame who instigated the attack, verbally assaulting the girls after having come home to find the house dark after a fuse has burnt out. There is a broken glass in the sink, which enrages her further, and Isabelle's blouse is burnt (the iron had blown the fuse--a constant problem that Madame had refused to spend money on the proper repair of) and realizes the girls are locked in their room. When she demands they come down and out, she really lets Christine have it for these "crimes", then, voicing her suspicion, accuses her of "smelling of it," and indeed the two had retreated to bed, awaiting Madame's return in terror. All four have lost any sense of proportion about everything--it's inconceivable to us to imagine a murder being set off by burning a blouse--but it's often the littlest thing that brings situations to a head when everyone has taken extreme positions in such a perverse dynamic.

The murders were so bloody that to learn of them brings to mind the Manson or Wonderland murders, with one significant difference--eyes. The girls come down, with their hair down, in the nightgowns, clearly at breaking point, and when Madame insults Lea, Christine flies apart and the two girls meet the attack with all their bottled up rage by gouging out, with their fingers, the eyes that have followed them through their every move for months now. This detail is nearly unique in the history of murders, and seems to be the reason so much attention has been given to the puzzle of why they did this. They continue to cut and slice at the bodies until they are unrecognizable, but even that had a point--one of the women`s legs was sliced like a baguette, perfectly, another as carefully prepared meat, as though to prove that the maids knew how to bake bread and cook properly, despite Madame`s increasing criticisms of their formerly highly praised dinners. These bizarre details speak to a specific psychology that keeps people trying to break into these women's minds to get the exact answers they seek.

Though blood runs in rivers down the staircase, most of the attack is off-screen and only by reading the book does one learn all the shocking details beyond the judge`s off-screen description of the horror after the fact, while the camera floats up the stairs to where the girls wait, huddled in their dark bedroom, clutching one another in terror. Having descended so far into madness, they seem unable to conceive an escape.

Fragments of the trial are heard only, off-screen, over the image of the terrified girls. Christine was sentenced to the guillotine, but her sentence was commuted. She begged for Lea once, then never spoke her name again, dying in an asylum a mere four years later, completely broken down in body and mind. Lea served a 20-yr sentence, then went back into service until her death in the early 1982. But still, the case fascinates because of the bizarre details of violence done by two young women.

This same story is told much more straightforwardly in "Murderous Maids" but for genuine insight into the psychological situation, `Sister My Sister" is the better film. Meckler's direction is as tight and detail-oriented as Madame would have wanted, and by keeping such control, she creates a beautiful film of real depth that helps us to unlock the mystery of this case. It's gorgeous cinematography (looking like a series of Rembrandt paintings), intense performances, claustrophobic set of the stuffy drawing room, the tiny whitewashed space the girls are crammed into in the attic, small details like the never-ending dripping of the faucet in the kitchen or the women playing the piano together but not freely, but to the tick-tock of a metronome to reinforce the need for "perfection," the use of mirrors and double images (the famous photograph of the two is re-created here, with Christine proudly refusing a "lower-class" discount from the never seen male photographer; this photograph was inspired when Madame and her daughter had one done), the consistent keeping of men off-screen, making this a very specific women's story (in fact, all four women were menstruating at the time of the murders--another mirror and rather odd detail that makes this even more of a women's story, whether one considers it significant or not). It speaks too of the tragedy that can come from the choice-less, forced into home-bound lives of women in a small-minded community, the limitations of strict class lines, and of course, the damage done to abandoned children. It is an irony of the story that the two pairs of women, while of different classes, both suffer from the same limitations put upon women when they are expected to be in service to the society's expectations, rather than in service to their own internal needs . In my own reading and viewing depictions of this most fascinating case, I've found this to be the closest one can get, perhaps, to understanding these tragically repressed young women and the equally repressed women who were their victims.

Average customer rating:

A little creepy, but, a compelling perspective on incest and prostitution.
A Bizarre Film by an Important New Cinematic Visionary
definitely not for the prudish

Open My Heart
Starring: Claudio Botosso , Giada Colagrande , and Natalie Cristiani
Director: Giada Colagrande
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Love & Suicide
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Julie Johnson
Do I Love You?
She Likes Girls (A Collection of 6 Short Films)

ASIN: B0006SSSUK
Release Date: 2005-03-22

Description

An intriguing and mysterious tale of two sisters, one a prostitute, the other a willing captive in their apartment, whose sexually intense bond turn deadly when any man crosses the boundaries of their secret relationship. Director Giada Colagrande's debut as been compared to the work of both Bergman and De Palma.

Customer Reviews:

A little creepy, but, a compelling perspective on incest and prostitution........2007-02-06

The other reviews listed here are very extensive and cover the film material very well. It's one of those "you only need to watch it once" kind of movies. A lot like 'Sister, My Sister', very disturbing. It's so low keyed and without emotion that you may find yourself feeling impatient and annoyed. I did, until I simply let myself witness the dynamic between the sisters, and let it evolve toward whatever "bad" ending for them that there would likely be. It portrayed a realistic existence, a modest life of routine and dominence by the older sister over the younger sister; the younger sister was kept to serve the older sisters emotional needs and actual physical passion needs. It seemed a little short on a substantial plot, rather it just sort of meandered aimlessly along, hopping from event to event, the women behaving like zombies. If there had been some kind of passion (jealousy, anger, resentment, lust, control, dominance), some kind of emotional display of some sort, this may have been a much more intriguing film. What ended up happening at the end ultimately was quite amazing and dramatic, and even more disturbing. It made up for the flat progress in the earlier part of the movie. Odd combination: prostitution and lesbian incest in a subdued format. Worth a watch if you are open to controversial and "avant-garde" type of stories, and don't expect fireworks.

A Bizarre Film by an Important New Cinematic Visionary.......2005-08-17

'Aprimi il cuore' (Open My Heart) is a unique film, one that tells a story of incest, prostitution, and murder in a singularly obtuse family. The genius of this piece is the writer, director and actress Giada Colagrande who has at a young age (she is not yet thirty as of this writing) found a voice in Italian cinema that demands attention. She is a major talent! Colagrande's 2003 film is a triumph.

Two sisters live alone in an apartment: Maria (Natalie Cristiani) is the older and has earned their support as a prostitute since their mother's death 15 years ago, and Caterina (Giada Colagrande) is 17 years old, a virgin confined to the apartment by her older sister with the sole exception of dancing lessons few times a week. Caterina is home taught, reads Dante, John Donne, and the major scientists, all under the guidance of Maria. While Maria brings her clients to the apartment during the day (Caterina must listen to the squeaking bedsprings in the bedroom she shares with Maria at night) and at night Maria hits the streets while Caterina practices her dancing and studies at home. The odd factor is the fact the Maria and Caterina have a strong sexual relationship and when Maria finishes a day's work, Caterina bathes her and they share bed and body in a lesbian relationship.

At Maria's dancing school there is a kind, older janitor Giovanni (Claudio Botosso) who pays attention to the plain Caterina and awakens her sexual feelings. Giovanni 'visits' Maria at their apartment and upon his departure Caterina dresses in a negligee and dances as though before Herod! Giovanni responds and at a later time Maria notices Caterina's inquisitiveness and invites her into the bedroom where she supervises Caterina's loss of virginity with Giovanni.

The floodgate has opened and Caterina soon is hosting Giovanni in a passionate sexual relationship. When Maria discovers the 'intruder' into their private life, she begins a series of deeds that defy sharing in a review. But it should be said that Maria's resolutions result in a return of the sister's relationship, a state that Caterina finalizes in ways learned from her tutor sister.

The acting is superb with special kudos to Colagrande's dancing as well as acting. This is a minimalist script, the camera revealing more about the silences than words ever could. The sexual scenes are graphic but provide the needed impact for the story's conclusion. This may not be a film for the casual viewer, but for those who love the edgy, tough, raw films from the Indies, this is bound to become a classic. Grady Harp, August 05

definitely not for the prudish.......2005-07-25

The Italian film "Open My Heart" is a provocative, dark and deeply disturbing domestic drama, fraught with bizarre interpersonal relationships and riddled with sexual tension. This is not an easy film for the sensitive or undiscriminating viewer to handle - what with its graphic sex scenes, depictions of lesbian incest and half a dozen or so harrowing murders as part of its overall package. But neither is it a film for the prurient or for those in search of tawdry titillation to get excited about - for "Open My Heart" is more concerned with subtleties of character and evocation of mood than it is with cheap thrills and fleshly exploitation.

The film, written and directed by Giada Colagrande (who also plays Caterina), focuses on two sisters living together after the death of their mother fifteen years earlier. The older of the two, Maria, has taken to prostitution as a means of supporting the both of them, bringing her customers home in the daytime to the same bed that