La Chambre des magiciennes
2000 Comedy / Drama / Fantasy   

 

Review
La Chambre des magiciennes combines themes of mental illness and occult mysticism using some disturbing visual images.  With a shaky hand-held digital camera, Miller manages to depict the world from the point of view of someone with a neurological illness, the dizzying loss of perspective and contrast being familiar to anyone who has experienced such a condition.  Although the images in the film are comparatively mundane, the way in which they are filmed and assembled is disorientating and, in some instances, quite shocking.

Whilst La Chambre des magiciennes should be commended for its original use of new technology and the way in which it transforms the mundane into some kind of surreal fantasy, it is not an easy film to watch.  There is little in the way of a coherent story and it often appears superficial and self-indulgent.  Indeed most spectators will be left totally perplexed by what is shown.  This is certainly an interesting and worthwhile excursion for Claude Miller, but it is far from being his best work.

© James Travers 2000

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  Director: Claude Miller
Starring: Anne Brochet, Mathilde Seigner, Annie Noël, Yves Jacques, Edouard Baer

Synopsis
Claire, an anthropology student, is suffering from migraine attacks and consults the bizarre Dr Fish.  When the medicine he prescribes for her fails, she insists on being admitted to hospital.  Here, she shares a room with a paralysed younger woman, Odette, who spends all her time watching television, and a strange older woman, Eléonore, about whom little is known.   Silent for most of the time, Eléonore has periodic fits of madness and attacks Claire.  From a nurse, Claire discovers that Eléonore has mysterious healing powers...

Credits
  • Director: Claude Miller
  • Script: Claude Miller, based on the novel "Les Yeux Bandés" by Siri Hustvedt
  • Photo: Philippe Welt
  • Cast: Anne Brochet (Claire), Mathilde Seigner (Odette), Annie Noël (Eléonore), Yves Jacques (Le docteur Fish), Edouard Baer (Simon), Jacques Mauclair (Eléonore’s Husband), Edith Scob (Claire’s Mother), Marc Cennelier (Claire’s Father), Samantha Rénier (Marie), Virginie Emane (Patricia), Josselin Siassia (Limoges), Béatrice Nzaou Niambi (Fatou), Valérie Bettencourt (Cop), Philippe Laudenbach (Old Doctor), Julien Boivent (Julien)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Runtime: 80 min
  • Aka: Of Woman and Magic



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