Death and the Maiden (1994)

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers (WGA):

Ariel Dorfman (play)
Rafael Yglesias (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 March 1995 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Prepare yourself for the moment of truth.

Plot:

A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Music | Falsely Accused Of Rape | Torture | Closed Society

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sigourney Weaver	...	Paulina Escobar
Ben Kingsley	...	Dr. Roberto Miranda
Stuart Wilson	...	Gerardo Escobar
Krystia Mova	...	Dr. Miranda's Wife
Jonathan Vega	...	Dr. Miranda's Son
Rodolphe Vega	...	Dr. Miranda's Son
Gilberto Cortés	...	String Quartet Player (as Gilberto Cortes)
Jorge Cruz	...	String Quartet Player
Carlos Moreno	...	String Quartet Player
Eduardo Valenzuela	...	String Quartet Player
Sergio Ortega Alvarado	...	String Quartet Manager

Also Known As:

Jeune fille et la mort, La (France)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

UK | USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:18 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:18 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Brazil:12 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (bw) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chile

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

In the original play by Ariel Dorfman, Paulina states her maiden name as Paulina Salas, not Paulina Lorca as in the film version.

Goofs:

Continuity: Dr. Miranda's moustache changes inconsistently throughout the movie.

Quotes:

Dr. Roberto Miranda: How can I confess to something I haven't done?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: 65 Million Years Off (#2.2)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

SCHUBERT STRING QUARTET IN D MINOR

3 characters, 1 location - and the suspense never ends!!!

Roman Polanski has proven himself as one of the leading directors for quite some time - but nobody seems to take any notice! (yes I know people try to forget him becouse of the 'incident'...)

The same applies for Sigourney Weaver. I've gon mad when a certain guy said how it's funny that Sigourney Weaver actually made other movies except Alien(s) - but nobody saw them! I showered him with titles such as 'The Ice Storm', 'Gorillas in the Mist', 'Working Girl', ...... and finally 'Death and the Maiden'. Off course - he saw none of them! It's sad how (in my humble oppinion) the best actress we currently have is so underrated. But hey - tell me who else got a leading actress Oscar nomination for a sequel of a Sci-Fi movie...??? She also was nominated for both leading and supporting actress in the same year (Gorillas & W. Girl) and strangely lost both!!! The Academy kept ignoring her Oscar worthy performances in 'The Ice Storm', 'Map of the World' and one of the best female performances of the decade 'Death and the Maiden'. She is unbelievable in this movie - the woman we saw as the World's heroine is so fragile and shaken in this movie that it is astonishing. She plays a sexualy molested (in the worst possible way) woman with all of her phobias and stirred feelings to the perfection - withought crossing the fine line to overacting. The scenes where she tortures Ben Kingsley are just amazing - as is the whole movie.

It takes strong actors and a brilliant director to make a movie which virtually takes place in one house - and has only three characters; and yet it never loses the suspense even for a minute.

This is a masterpiece, and one of rare movie that can be watched both by art-movie philes and the 'regular'-movie fans. This is Roman Polanski at his best since 'Chinatown' and Sigourney at her best ever!