Sister My Sister
Encyclopedia
Sister My Sister is a 1995 film starring British
actresses Joely Richardson
, Jodhi May
and Julie Walters
. The film is directed by Nancy Meckler
and written by Wendy Kesselman
, based on her own play, My Sister in This House. Both the play and the subsequent film deal with societal repression and its victims.
The film is based on a true incident in Le Mans
, France
in 1933 called the Papin
murder case, where two sisters brutally murdered their employer and her daughter. The murder shocked the country, and there was much speculation about the sisters, including allegations that they were having an incest
ous lesbian
affair with each other.
. With only each other to turn to and Christine experiencing much jealousy as to her sister's interest in anyone else, the relationship becomes sexual, adding to the tension between the sisters and their employer. The tension ultimately leads to paranoia
, repressed rage and murder.
, a play by Jean Genet
written in 1949 that was adapted into a film in 1974 by Christopher Miles
. It starred Glenda Jackson
and Susannah York
as the maids, and Vivien Merchant
as their employer.
It is also mentioned in a french film of Claude Chabrol
La Cérémonie
in 1995 with Isabelle Huppert
and Sandrine Bonnaire
. The characters are not the Papin sisters but are two women that end up murdering their employer. It is an adaptation from the novel A Judgement in Stone
by Ruth Rendell
.
The story was also filmed as Murderous Maids
, a French film starring Sylvie Testud
and Julie-Marie Parmentier
and directed by Jean-Pierre Denis
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actresses Joely Richardson
Joely Richardson
Joely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
, Jodhi May
Jodhi May
Jodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
and Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
. The film is directed by Nancy Meckler
Nancy Meckler
Nancy Meckler is an American theatre director and film director, best known for her work in the United Kingdom, especially with Shared Experience, where she is joint artistic director alongside Polly Teale....
and written by Wendy Kesselman
Wendy Kesselman
-Life:Wendy Kesselman came to the Actors Theater of Louisville in 1980. She lives in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.-Works:*Becca, 1977, 1980*Merry-Go-Round, 1981, 1981*I Love You, I Love You Not, 1982, 1982*Cinderella In A Mirror, 1987...
, based on her own play, My Sister in This House. Both the play and the subsequent film deal with societal repression and its victims.
The film is based on a true incident in Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1933 called the Papin
Papin sisters
Christine Papin and Léa Papin were two French maids who murdered their employer's wife and daughter in Le Mans, France, on 2 February 1933...
murder case, where two sisters brutally murdered their employer and her daughter. The murder shocked the country, and there was much speculation about the sisters, including allegations that they were having an incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
ous lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
affair with each other.
Plot
Christine (Richardson) is the maid of a well-to-do widow (Julie Walters) and her daughter (Sophie Thursfield). Her sister, Lea (May) is hired on the recommendation of Christine. The two sisters become increasingly alienated from their employer, separated by barriers between the classesSocial class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
. With only each other to turn to and Christine experiencing much jealousy as to her sister's interest in anyone else, the relationship becomes sexual, adding to the tension between the sisters and their employer. The tension ultimately leads to paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
, repressed rage and murder.
Cast
- Julie WaltersJulie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
as Madame Danzard - Joely RichardsonJoely RichardsonJoely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
as Christine - Jodhi MayJodhi MayJodhi May is an English actress.-Early life:Born in Camden Town, London, May first acted at the age of 12 in 1988's A World Apart. The role earned her a Best Actress award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, shared with her co-stars Barbara Hershey and Linda Mvusi...
as Lea - Sophie Thursfield as Isabelle Danzard
- Amelda BrownAmelda BrownAmelda Brown is a British actress. She is best known for playing Brenda Parkin in Backup, Mrs Roach in Soldier Soldier, Pauline Cook in A Touch of Frost and Sue Barnes in Peak Practice and she has also appeared in Inspector Morse, The Bill, Lovejoy, Holby City, The Story of Tracy Beaker, and Doctors...
as Visitor #1 - Lucita Pope as Visitor #2
- Kate Gartside as Sister Veronica
- Aimee Schmidt as Young Lea
- Gabriella Schmidt as Young Christine
Related films
The Papin case was also the subject of The MaidsThe Maids
The Maids is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, which Louis Jouvet directed...
, a play by Jean Genet
Jean Genet
Jean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
written in 1949 that was adapted into a film in 1974 by Christopher Miles
Christopher Miles
Christopher Miles was born in London, England, the eldest of four children to ‘Wren’, a councilor, and John Miles, a consulting engineer, whose family had been in the steel industry for several generations...
. It starred Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
and Susannah York
Susannah York
Susannah York was a British film, stage and television actress. She was awarded a BAFTA as Best Supporting Actress for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for the same film. She won best actress for Images at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival...
as the maids, and Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant
Vivien Merchant was a British actress.-Career:Merchant performed in many stage productions and several films, including Alfie and Frenzy...
as their employer.
It is also mentioned in a french film of Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
La Cérémonie
La Cérémonie
La Cérémonie is a 1995 film by Claude Chabrol. It was adapted from the novel A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell.- Plot :La Cérémonie tells the story of an illiterate dyslexic young woman, Sophie Bonhomme , who is hired as a maid by the Lelièvre family. The Lelièvres live in an isolated mansion in...
in 1995 with Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
and Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire
Sandrine Bonnaire is a French actress, who has appeared in more than 40 films including Hollywood movies.Bonnaire was born in the town of Gannat, Allier, in the Auvergne region. She was born into a working-class family, the seventh of eleven children. Her acting career began at the age of 16 in...
. The characters are not the Papin sisters but are two women that end up murdering their employer. It is an adaptation from the novel A Judgement in Stone
A Judgement In Stone
A Judgement In Stone is a 1977 novel by British writer Ruth Rendell, widely considered to be one of her greatest works. The novel is famous in the world of crime fiction for its opening line: "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write"...
by Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, , who also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, is an English crime writer, author of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries....
.
The story was also filmed as Murderous Maids
Murderous Maids
Murderous Maids is a French film directed by Jean-Pierre Denis, released in 2000, which deals with the Papin sisters. The screenplay by Jean-Pierre Denis with Michèle Pétin, was based on the book L'Affaire Papin by Paulette Houdyer which told the story of a double murder that made sensational...
, a French film starring Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud is a French actress, writer and director. Her film career began in 1991. She was later highly acclaimed, and has twice won César Awards.-Biography:...
and Julie-Marie Parmentier
Julie-Marie Parmentier
Julie-Marie Parmentier is a French actress.-Selected filmography:* Murderous Maids * Marie-Jo and Her Two Lovers * 36 Views from the Pic Saint-Loup...
and directed by Jean-Pierre Denis
Jean-Pierre Denis
Jean-Pierre Denis is a French film director and screenwriter. He has directed six films between 1980 and 2005. His film Field of Honor was entered into the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.-Filmography:* Histoire d'Adrien...
.