La Cérémonie

In this nasty French version of Upstairs, Downstairs, megastars Jacqueline Bisset, Isabelle Huppert, and Sandrine Bonnaire play an upper-crust bitch, a postal worker who is truly postal, and illiterate maid, respectively, in this serious satirical thriller on the lives of the rich and dysfunctional. Winner of a Best Foreign Film nod from the National Society of Film Critics and an entry on many top 10 lists (but, let's be honest here, film critics love it when the bourgeoisie take it in the shorts, and the more perversely so, the better), La Cérémonie is a genuinely eerie film during its first three quarters, as Sophie (Bonnaire) struggles to deliver good service to Catherine's (Bisset) family, while trying to keep her illiteracy a secret. After bonding (in more ways than one) with Jeanne, a slightly wacko postal worker, Sophie seems happy, but we know what's up the first time Bisset's hubby cleans his rifles. Claude Chabrol (France's Alfred Hitchcock, as the box art trumpets) is not nearly as subtle as the master, but this French import is worth seeing for the fine performances of the tres femmes. Recommended.[DVD Review--July 27, 2004--Home Vision, 102 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $19.95--Making its debut on DVD, 1995's La Cérémonie sports a good transfer and solid stereo sound, as well as 19-minute archival “making-of” featurette (with Chabrol, Bonnaire, Huppert, and Bisset), a trailer, and a booklet with both an essay by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum and a director's filmography. Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for another fine film from the prolific Chabrol.]