Saint Ange (2004)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Pascal Laugier

Writer:

Pascal Laugier (writer)

Release Date:

23 June 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

You're staying here alone? Are you sure?

Plot:

In 1958, in the French Alp, the young servant Anna Jurin arrives in Saint Ange Orphanage to work with...

Plot Keywords:

Orphanage | Mirror | Shower Room | Tap | Foetus

Cast

Virginie Ledoyen	...	Anna Jurin
Lou Doillon	...	Judith
Catriona MacColl	...	Francard
Dorina Lazar	...	Helenka
Virginie Darmon	...	Mathilde
Jérôme Soufflet	...	Daniel
Marie Herry	...	Marie
Eric Prat	...	Le responsable des services sociaux
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marin Chouquet	...	Alex
Christophe Lemaire	...	Un homme des services sociaux (uncredited)
Franck Vestiel	...	Man in Black (uncredited)

Directed by
Pascal Laugier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pascal Laugier		writer

Produced by
Christophe Gans	....	producer
Emmanuel Gateau	....	consulting producer
Richard Grandpierre	....	producer
Vlad Paunescu	....	producer
Stephane Sperry	....	associate producer (as Stéphane Sperry)
Matthieu Warter	....	consulting producer

Original Music by
Joseph LoDuca

Cinematography by
Pablo Rosso

Film Editing by
Sébastien Prangère

Production Design by
Bertrand Seitz

Art Direction by
Mathieu Lauffray
Calin Papura

Set Decoration by
Adrian Popa

Costume Design by
Nathalie Guermah

Makeup Department
Laurent Blanchard	....	key hair stylist
Catalin Ciutu	....	hair stylist
Letitia Ghenea	....	assistant makeup artist
Alexis Kinebanyan	....	special makeup effects artist
Benoît Lestang	....	special makeup effects artist
Emmanuel Pitois	....	special makeup effects artist
Valerie Thery-Hamel	....	key makeup artist (as Valérie Théry)

Production Management
Cristian Bostanescu	....	production manager
Nicolas Dancel	....	assistant unit manager
Frédéric Doniguian	....	production manager
Edouard Dupont	....	unit production manager
Elena Valeanu	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerome Desvignes	....	second assistant director
Julie Grumbach	....	second assistant director
Elise McLeod	....	third assistant director
Elise McLeod	....	trainee assistant director
Franck Vestiel	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Daniel Alexandru	....	sculptor
Cristian Baluta	....	lead man
Bogdan Bostanaru	....	art department assistant
Crina Cartos	....	construction coordinator (as Crina Cartas)
Nadia Cherouk	....	set dresser
Clément Colin	....	second assistant art director
Eric Delfour	....	assistant art director
Costin Dragan	....	art department assistant
Valérie Guilbaud	....	assistant art director
Gilles Lebovici	....	property master
Liviu Marcu	....	sculptor
Sabo Marian	....	art department assistant (as Marian Sabo)
Eugen Marinescu	....	art department assistant
Ilie Mihai	....	construction foreman (as Mihai Ilie)
Florin Mirghes	....	art department assistant
Yves Montagne	....	storyboard artist
Dan Munteanu	....	sculptor
Mircea Onisor	....	assistant art director
Victoria Rusu	....	painter
Christian Simion	....	construction foreman (as Cristi Simion)
Gina Stancu	....	painter
Mugur Szabo	....	property master
Samuel Teisseire	....	assistant art director
Marie-Claire Vidal	....	assistant art director
Olivier Colat-Parros	....	sculptor: animals (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stéphane Albinet	....	boom operator
Philippe Amouroux	....	sound re-recording mixer
Assia Dnednia	....	assistant foley artist (as Assia Zipper)
Alain Féat	....	dialogue editor
Denis Jaillet-Marsigny	....	sound recordist
Gwennolé Le Borgne	....	sound editor
Jean-Marcel Milan	....	sound
Radu Nicolae	....	boom operator
Alexis Place	....	assistant sound editor
Jean-Alexandre Villemer	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Daniel Parvulescu	....	special effects foreman
Ionel Popa	....	special effects makeup artist

Visual Effects by
Christophe Belena	....	scan and printing: Duboicolor
Mélodie Boileau	....	visual effects coordinator
Lucie Bories	....	digital compositor
Seb Caudron	....	visual effects supervisor: def2shoot
Nicolas Daniel	....	video operator: Duboicolor
Rip Hampton O'Neil	....	technical director: Duboicolor
Laurent Herveic	....	visual effects artist
Abdel Ali Kassou	....	scan & printing DuboiColor
Michel Kinfoussia	....	digital effects artist
Karine Marchandou	....	I/O manager
Sebastien Rame	....	digital artist
Stéphane Soubiran	....	visual effects

Stunts
Ion Carangea	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Erwan Becquelin	....	grip
Franck-Norman Bihi	....	gaffer
Nicu Botarleanu	....	electrician
Sandrine Boucher	....	trainee assistant camera
Calin Catalin	....	gaffer (as Catalin Calin)
François Comparot	....	key grip
Franck Coquet	....	electrician
Gigi Dumitrescu	....	focus puller (as Gigel Dumitrescu)
Eugen Dumitru	....	grip
Joseph Emiélot	....	grip
Samuel Fisher	....	grip
David Frak-Lauer	....	assistant camera
Michel Galtier	....	focus puller: main camera
Catalin Grigoras	....	electrician
Bogdan Holbura	....	video assist operator
Marcu Ion	....	electrician (as Ion Marcu)
Dan Lita	....	electrician
Stefan Mangir	....	assistant camera
Luis Peralta	....	gaffer
Ion Perianu	....	assistant camera
Sandu Polu	....	grip
Gabi Postascu	....	key grip (as Gabi Postasu)
Estelle Ruet	....	still photographer
Gilbert Seybald	....	gaffer
George Stan	....	electrician

Casting Department
Dan Berthier	....	casting: children

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Elena Fratila	....	assistant costume designer
Aurelia Ivascu	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Aurélie Laumont	....	color timer
Christophe Pinel	....	assistant editor
Charlotte Teillard D'Eyry	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Scott Davidson	....	music engineer

Transportation Department
Bobby Barbacioru	....	driver
Eugen Dinca	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Alain Bertheau	....	assistant to unit production manager
Patrick Boshart	....	location scout
Daniel Cariou	....	location scout
Mathilde Cukierman	....	location scout
Clara Jacobs	....	production assistant (as Clara Gheorghiu)
Jérémy Jacobs	....	assistant to unit production manager
Nathalie Lampre	....	administrator
Ruxandra Popescu	....	production accountant
Bernard Savin Pascaud	....	location scout
Pierre Selinger	....	production attorney
Bogdan Stefanescu	....	location manager
Ioana Stoica	....	production assistant
Valentine Traclet	....	script supervisor
Doris Yoba	....	production assistant

Thanks
Oana Paunescu	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Castel Film Romania
• Eskwad
• France 3 Cinéma
• H Factory

Distributors

• Bazuca Films (2007) (Chile) (theatrical)
• Pioneer Films (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• ARP Sélection
• Albatros Film (2009) (Japan) (DVD)
• Compagnia Distribuzione Internazionale (CDI) (2004) (Italy) (all media)
• Focus Features
• IPA Asia Pacific (2004) (Thailand) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2004) (Vietnam) (all media)
• IPA Asia Pacific (2009) (Japan) (DVD)
• Movie Bank (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• New Select (2009) (Japan) (DVD)
• Quasar Films (Argentina)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universal Studios (2005) (USA) (DVD) (as House of Voices)

Other Companies

• All Deco International  sculptures

Also Known As:

House of Voices (International: English title) (USA) (DVD title)
Sanatorium (France) (working title)
St. Ange (Philippines: English title) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some nudity and disturbing images.

Runtime:

France:98 min | Philippines:99 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | UK:15 | USA:R | France:-12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Castel Film Romania

Trivia:

In Mexico the film was released with the title "El Convento" ("The Convent") as the action happens in an orphanage. In fact, you can see only two nuns in the movie

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene where Anna breaks the glass in the bathroom and tries to get in, a man with a camera can be seen in the remaining mirror.

Soundtrack:

I'm in the mood for love

When bad movies happen to good people

The result is something that resembles "Saint Ange" which is indeed so dreadful that it makes me feel shame and embarrassment for Ms. Ledoyen, Ms. Doillon and the other actors in this disgusting film.

I must say, I watched it because I appreciated the work of the actress that played Anna. She usually makes smart choices in her movies, but she clearly made the worst decision of her career by doing this movie. A bloke who saw this DVD with me joked that Ms. Ledoyen must have been hypnotized, cursed or even hexed to agree to making this movie. I didn't find it very funny at first but given the unfavourable downturn her career has taken after she made this movie, I'm starting to think it might be true.

I appreciate movies like "The Others" or stories like Turn of the Screw which somebody else had mentioned, but trust me, "Saint Ange" is nowhere near their level or category, not even close. "Saint Ange" is a low budget movie that does not even deserve to be seen in a 2 a.m. Friday night frightfest on the telly, much less on DVD or in theatres. That said, the budget makes no matter, because I have seen movies made for even less money that are far better than this awful movie. The problem with "Saint Ange" lies with the director who clearly is in over his head and is not fit for the job at hand. He quite obviously lacks the skill and talent needed to make a real movie.

If you fancy seeing a rehash of every horror scene, every haunted house thriller trick, and demented and sick scenes of innocent children in unpleasant situations, then this would be a movie for you to see. Otherwise, if you are a person of any good taste, morals or decency and appreciate true cinema and good stories, I would advise you to skip this at your local rental store or shopping centre and see another movie instead.