After Die Fälscher and Fame Chimica that morning, Patrick Grandperret’s Meurtrières was the third movie that used the same screenplay technique. The opening is followed by a movie-long flashback which leads to the opening. I thought it worked best in Meurtrières. Die Fälscher would have been no worse without that opening, Fame Chimica would have been no better. But when the movie is about two young women who after their own harrowing experiences meet in a nut house, embark on a road trip and the day gets darker, opening it with a night where both of them are covered in blood feels just right.
The title, however, does not do justice. While it tells us that it is about murderers, possibly these two women, the movie is not about they turning into murderers. It is about they frequently filling themselves with magic potions of optimism, trying every door and being disappointed again and again. The good people are distrustful and the others are looking for something in exchange.
There are times while watching Sir Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise when you go, “Why are they doing this? Are they nuts?” Well, here they officially are. At least a little. Lizzie cuts herself a few times and is taken to a nut house. Nina blames herself for the death of her father, her expressionless eyes overflow tears every now and then, she also tries to off herself, and is taken to the same nut house.
The nut house looks so real that one would find it interesting to visit once in a while. Both Lizzie and Nina seem to be the sanest among all its inhabitants and feel at home. One Friday night they feel like leaving their home to cheer themselves up a little. They have lots of optimism, occasional mood swings, little money, and know few acquaintances in town. One is a “bundle of charms” and the other is a “sex bomb”. Neither knows that the world outside is a harsher place.
“I like crazies,” Lizzie says a few times. She means it. She likes Nina. Nina does not say much but of all the people she meets, she likes Lizzie the most. Céline Sallette and Hande Kodja, both students in the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art of Paris during the making of this movie, bring a unique chemistry between Lizzie and Nina. The actors have a bright future.
Until reading IMDB user Guy Bellinger’s A Modern Tragedy I had been of the opinion that Meurtrières was inspired by Thelma and Louise. There is a thirty-year-long history behind the making of the movie that started with twenty pages written by Maurice Pialat.
Image Source: IMP Awards
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