Summary Based on documents compiled by leading French philosopher Michel Foucault, this unique and original film charts the gruesome events which took place in a Normandy village in 1835, when a young man, Pierre Rivière, murdered his mother, sister and brother before fleeing to the countryside. With a cast made up of real-life villagers from the area where the events took place, the detailed re-enactments and careful attention to the gestures of their ancestors serve to create an intense and sometimes disturbing atmosphere of hyper-realism. Details of the crime and of the trial that followed are told from varied perspectives, including the written confession of Pierre himself, and form a rich and complex narrative that interrogates the concepts of "truth" and "history". View more details
Directed : René Allio
Written : Pascal Bonitzer Jean Jourdheuil Michel Foucault
Stars : Claude Hébert Jacqueline Millière Joseph Leportier Annick Géhan
Genres : Crime Drama
Release date : Oct 26, 1976
Countries of origin : France
Language : French
Filming locations : Caen, Calvados, France
Production companies : Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA) Polsim Production Films de l'Arquebuse, Les
Summary Based on documents compiled by leading French philosopher Michel Foucault, this unique and original film charts the gruesome events which took place in a Normandy village in 1835, when a young man, Pierre Rivière, murdered his mother, sister and brother before fleeing to the countryside. With a cast made up of real-life villagers from the area where the events took place, the detailed re-enactments and careful attention to the gestures of their ancestors serve to create an intense and sometimes disturbing atmosphere of hyper-realism. Details of the crime and of the trial that followed are told from varied perspectives, including the written confession of Pierre himself, and form a rich and complex narrative that interrogates the concepts of "truth" and "history". View more details
Genres : Crime Drama
Release date : Oct 26, 1976
Countries of origin : France
Language : French
Filming locations : Caen, Calvados, France
Production companies : Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA) Polsim Production Films de l'Arquebuse, Les
