Die Abgründe (1963)

Die Abgründe: Directed by Nikos Papatakis. With Francine Bergé, Colette Bergé, Pascale de Boysson, Colette Régis. Two orphaned sisters, Michele and Marie have been working as servants in a family for some time now. As the drama begins, they are tearing apart the house in the absence of the family. They rant and rave or just talk, slowly revealing that they have not been paid in a long time, and they are alternately either afraid or wildly elated. Then the family comes home — and arguments take over with the sisters either fawning over the family, or antagonistic to them. The insane situation eventually reaches a crescendo when the two servants learn that the family plans on selling the house and perhaps leaving them in the lurch.

“I start with this quotation from French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre, as it exemplifies how strong emotions were in the social turmoil that this film revived in 1963, 30 years and a world war after the real life crime committed in France by the Papin sisters. Or rather, how the breaking of three taboos at once, incest, lesbianism, and workers revolt, always stirs a turmoil of passions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e André Malraux imposed the showing of this film at the Cannes Film Festival 1963, after a public declaration of support from a large number of French intellectuals and artists, amidst a major uproar and social criticism. The followers of the Surrealism movement took the Papin sisters case as paradigm of class revolt, and a signal that a social revolution was already taking place. Romantics saw in these grisly murders the emergence of absolute Evil, like Lautréamont in `Les Chants de Maldororu0026#39;. Philosophers engaged in the socialist movement wrote passionate texts in defence of those maids, like Jean-Paul Sartre in `Le Muru0026#39;, and Simone de Beauvoir in `La Force de lu0026#39;âgeu0026#39;. Jacques Lacan, in `Écritsu0026#39;, will develop his first scientific essay on psicoanalysis, following the Papin criminal case. Jean Genet wrote `Les Bonnesu0026#39; (English translation, `The Maidsu0026#39;) pages that are still considered a must on the sombre aspects of humanity, and creating a sacrificial arena where death is preceded by its simulation – something that movie director elevated to the title of his film, `La Cérémonieu0026#39;. An earlier made-for-television film by Michel Dumoulin, `Les Bonnesu0026#39;, is lesser known. Recently, two remakes brought controversy among critics again, in Europe and the United States: Nancy Meckleru0026#39;s `Sister, My Sisteru0026#39; (1994), and Jean-Pierre Denisu0026#39; `Les Blessures assassinesu0026#39; (2000).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e However, this older film or Genetu0026#39;s play are still recommended, by their treatment of the subject, and the dramatic intensity they reach.”