Diary of a Chambermaid
– France, around 1900. Coming from the vibrancy of Paris, pert Célestine is procured as a chambermaid..
France, around 1900. Coming from the vibrancy of Paris, pert Célestine is procured as a chambermaid in Normandy. In the Lanlaire's villa she encounters the lecherous man of the house and his asexual, tyrannical and jealous wife. Célestine is determined to avoid the fate suffered by the cook Marianne who has already secretly killed one child born out of wedlock and now despairingly realises she is pregnant again. The lively maid is intrigued by what the mysterious manservant Joseph is up to: he distributes anti-Semitic leaflets and suggests that she could work for him as a prostitute in Cherbourg…
01 Apr 2015
French
Benoît Jacquot
Hélène Zimmer (scenario), Benoît Jacquot (scenario), Octave Mirbeau (novel)
Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Clotilde Mollet, Hervé Pierre
In the early 1900s, in the French provinces. Célestine a beautiful and libertarian young woman, who has been hired as a chambermaid by the Lanlaires, arrives from Paris at the train station. Joseph, her masters' gruff gardener takes her to the house where she is to work. She is "welcomed" by Mr. Lanlaire who immediately starts fondling her. She then meets Mrs. Lanlaire, a very unpleasant woman with a class superiority. All this bodes ill for the future...
1 win & 6 nominations.
Les Films du Lendemain