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One of the most fascinating films in the entire AFT Collection,The Maids is a controversial work by notorious light-fingered novelist/poet/thief Jean Genet (Querelle). In The Maids, Genet creates a surreal and illusory world, dealing unsentimentally with society's outcasts. The plot is roughly based on the Papin sisters - real life murderous maids from the 1930's.
Glenda Jackson (Women In Love, A Touch of Class) is at her sneering finest as Solange, and as Claire, Susannah York (The Killing of Sister George, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?) exudes dark sexuality and malevolence. Claire and Solange are the twisted sister maids of the title,working for Vivien Merchant's Madame in a chic Parisian townhouse. The maids' play-acting slowly reveals dark desires, skewed sexual and class politics and even worse, dementia and murderous intent.
With fluid cinematography by the great Douglas Slocombe (Julia, Raiders of the Lost Ark), The Maids is a dangerous and provocative look at the darker recesses of the human soul.
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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Photo Gallery, Posters, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: This adaptation of Jean Genet's THE MAIDS was part of the American Film Theater series, conceived in the 1970s by producer Ely Landau and meant to be shown theatrically just like a play, with tickets sold in advance. The film stars Glenda Jackson and Susannah York as two sisters named Solange and Claire who work as maids for their strict Madame. However, when Madame leaves the house, the two sisters dress up as their masters and take turns humiliating one another as the surrogate Madame. This masterpiece of the absurd blends Genet's acerbic existentialism with cutting surrealist humor. ...The Maids (1974)
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5 of 13 people found the following review helpful
One of the highlights of the American Film Theatre: Susannah York, Glenda Jackson, and Vivien Merchant at their best. Genet's play is powerful even when read. It's staggering to watch it when so capably performed.
After watching "The Maids", can one go to work unchanged? Is it a surprise that both Jackson and York are described now in Wikipedia as politially leftist? Despite their creative ceremonies, Claire and Solange's labor remained joyless. Without help, their escapes became self-destructive.
Being a worker is no easy problem, whether for Claire and Solange or for the rest of us. Efforts to improve the lot of workers seem to flounder whether the worker is alone or has sizable allies. We are so acustommed to inferior working conditions and so pained when we reflect upon it, that we typcially find a way to make do. We pity Solange and Claire and see them separate from us. We know how to survive.
In 1926, Henri De Man in "The Psychology of Socialism" analyzed the psychological conditions of workers. In one chapter, "Joyless Labor", he identified the problem that often occurs when one is paid well enough but left with one's needs unsatisfied. Genet has dramatized that problem. Claire's tea is hardly a satisfactory resolution. The problem remains unanswered and we need to get back to work.
After watching "The Maids", can one go to work unchanged? Is it a surprise that both Jackson and York are described now in Wikipedia as politially leftist? Despite their creative ceremonies, Claire and Solange's labor remained joyless. Without help, their escapes became self-destructive.
Being a worker is no easy problem, whether for Claire and Solange or for the rest of us. Efforts to improve the lot of workers seem to flounder whether the worker is alone or has sizable allies. We are so acustommed to inferior working conditions and so pained when we reflect upon it, that we typcially find a way to make do. We pity Solange and Claire and see them separate from us. We know how to survive.
In 1926, Henri De Man in "The Psychology of Socialism" analyzed the psychological conditions of workers. In one chapter, "Joyless Labor", he identified the problem that often occurs when one is paid well enough but left with one's needs unsatisfied. Genet has dramatized that problem. Claire's tea is hardly a satisfactory resolution. The problem remains unanswered and we need to get back to work.
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