Mon beau-frère a tué ma soeur (1986) Directed by Jacques Rouffio
Crime / Comedy / Thriller
aka: My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister
Film Review
Jacques Rouffio may not be the best-known of French filmmakers but at
least two of his films, the dark thriller Sept morts sur ordonnance
(1975) and anti-capitalist satire Le
Sucre (1978), make him worthy of our respect. Mon beau-frère a tué ma soeur
is one of his lesser offerings, a clueless comedy-thriller that goes
off the rails within the first ten minutes and never gets back on
again. For much of the film, the leads Michel Piccoli and Michel
Serrault seem to be enjoying a private joke, but they are the only ones
who appear to see the funny side of this stillborn fiasco. Rising star
Juliette Binoche is totally wasted (God knows how she was lured into
this slow motion disaster) although her presence does at least provide
some succour to any poor wretch who has to watch the film.
Virtually bereft of laughs and hopelessly tangled up in a plot that
struggles to make any kind of sense, Mon
beau-frère a tué ma soeur is not something you
would ever wish to inflict on your worst enemy.
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Film Synopsis
The esteemed anthropologist Octave Clapoteau is the happiest of men on the
day when he is admitted to the Académie Française with the
support of his friend Etienne Sembadel, a well-known psychiatrist.
After the reception, the two friends are accosted by one of Sembadel's psychiatric
patients, an attractive young veterinary named Esther Bouloire, who repeatedly
insists that her sister was killed by her brother-in-law. Troubled
by this revelation, Clapoteau and Sembadel agree to look into the matter
and discover what really did happen to Esther's sister. Their investigation
has hardly begun before the accused brother-in-law makes his confession and
is then promptly killed. By now it is evident to both Clapoteau and
Sembadel that there is far more to this case than meets the eye. It
seems that Esther's brother-in-law carried out a series of murders not on
his own account but for his uncle Jocelyn, as part of a cruel campaign of
revenge. The adventure isn't over yet. As more startling discoveries
come their way, Clapoteau and Sembadel find themselves on a road leading
straight to the Vatican...
Script: Georges Conchon (dialogue),
Jacques Rouffio (dialogue)
Cinematographer: Jacques Loiseleux
Music: Philippe Sarde
Cast:Michel Serrault (Octave Clapoteau),
Michel Piccoli (Etienne Sembadel),
Jean Carmet (Jocelyn Bouloire),
Juliette Binoche (Esther Bouloire),
Milva (Renata Palozzi),
Jean-Pierre Bisson (D'H),
Tom Novembre (Léon),
Isabelle Petit-Jacques (Micheline),
Agnès Garreau (Muriel),
Jean-Paul Roussillon (Somptueux Larbin),
Raoul Billerey (Grand Patron),
Maurice Chevit (Monsieur Bongrand),
Didier Flamand (Journaliste aux L'Hebdo Gauche),
Francis Girod (L'interviewer TV),
Gérard Klein (Le journaliste radio),
Alexandra Lorska (Mademoiselle Considérant)
Country: France
Language: French
Support: Color
Runtime: 95 min
Aka:My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister
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