Posts Tagged ‘Le bal des folles’

CTV NEWS AT 11:30: MORE MOVIES AND TV SHOWS TO STREAM THIS WEEKEND!

Richard speaks to “CTV News at Six” anchor Andria Case about the best movies and television to watch this weekend. This week we have a look at the timely immigration drama “Blue Bayou,” “Copshop,” the new action thriller starring Gerard Butler and “The Mad Women’s Ball.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

RICHARD’S WEEKEND MOVIE REVIEWS FROM CP24! FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2021.

Richard joins CP24 to have a look at new movies coming to VOD, streaming services and theatres including Clint Eastwood’s latest “Cry Macho,” the timely immigration drama “Blue Bayou,” “Copshop,” the new action thriller starring Gerard Butler and “The Mad Women’s Ball.”

Watch the whole thing HERE!

THE MAD WOMEN’S BALL: 3 STARS. “melodramatic story of survival.”

“The Mad Woman’s Ball,” a new Gothic, French language thriller now streaming on Amazon Prime, is a human look at the dehumanizing oppression foisted upon patients at Paris’s notorious 19th century Pitié-Salpêtrière psychiatric hospital.

Young socialite Eugénie Cléry’s (Lou de Laâge) father is not happy. Her rebellious behaviour, like

sneaking off to read poetry and smoke at cafes, offends his deeply conformist world view. Even worse is her newfound belief in spiritualism. Eugénie believes she can communicate with the dead. Those encounters leave her in a state of anxiety and cher vieux papa Cléry is having none of it. Embarrassed, he forcefully commits her to Pitié-Salpêtrière, a women’s hospital specializing in experimental treatments devised by Professor Jean-Martin Charcot (Grégoire Bonnet).

Diagnosed as “hysterical,” she finds solace in the company of Geneviève (Laurent), a sympathetic nurse who believes Eugénie doesn’t belong at the facility. Together they plan the young woman’s escape on the night of the hospital’s degrading “Bal des Folles,” (Mad Woman’s Ball) where Paris elite mix with the clinic’s patients.

An adaptation from the 2019 book by Victoria Mas, “The Mad Woman’s Ball” is a melodramatic story of survival set against the backdrop of the barbaric beginnings of psychiatric medicine.

Director Laurent paints an evocative picture of life inside the 19th century hospital. Laughs and screams fill the air as Laurent’s camera details the gothic details of the facility. On the inside intimidation and oppression loom heavy, but the storytelling is compassionate. Eugénie and Geneviève are soldiers in the fight against fight against misogyny, personified by men like the arrogant Professor Charcot and Eugénie’s father, who oppress them and ultimately, misunderstand them.

It’s powerful storytelling, buoyed by wonderful performances, marred only by the occasionally overwrought contrivance. “The Mad Woman’s Ball” is best in its quiet moments between Eugénie and Geneviève when the power of their solidarity is heightened.

 

TRNTO: RICHARD ON The best movies to watch at TIFF this year!

From TRNTO.com: “For the second year in a row, TIFF, the world’s largest public film festival will be a little less public than it was pre-pandemic. The Toronto International Film Festival, which runs from Sept. 9 to 18, continues with the hybrid model — a mix of in-person and online screenings — adopted last year in response to COVID-19. This year’s slate includes more than 100 of the best features and documentaries the world has to offer…” Read the whole thing HERE!