1199 La cérémonie

[Red Screamer]

I thought the blu looked great, colors and all, but I’m no expert. I did, however, notice an obvious error in the subtitles: in the scene where the daughter stops to help Huppert with her car, the subtitle has her saying “Hello, Mrs. Lantier” in the middle of the conversation, after she’s already said hello. It must have been copy-pasted from the scene where Huppert brings Bonnaire to volunteer for some reason, since Madame Lantier is the woman who works at the church. What she’s actually saying is something like, “You want me to take a look?”

I’m surprised that this error made it through since the line doesn’t fit even if you’re just reading the English (not that I expect it will seriously get in the way of anyone’s viewing of the film). Criterion, my services are available; I’m also a good cook :-"

[FrauBlucher]

Question... I gave this excellent film a watch. It left me wondering why it was called La ceremonie. Got a bit of an answer after reading the booklet, which it states the French expression is "events leading up to a guillotine death." Can someone be so kind as to expound on that meaning?

[therewillbeblus]

I don't think the "guillotine" has to hold meaning - the film showcases

Spoiler

the circumstances that lead towards an incident of murders, which occurs in a final eradicating ceremony of sorts - but from what you've read, perhaps the entire series of events is a ceremony culminating in their consequences

Maybe someone else has a more in-depth response

[Red Screamer]

I think there’s also the surface-level meaning of ceremony as in a system of politeness and rituals—“the way things should be done”—particularly for a traditional bourgeois family like this. The style of the film itself is set up as an opposition between tightly controlled structures and unpredictably charged energy. Think of Huppert hopping through the window or the haphazard way she cooks with Bonnaire, as opposed to the highly ritualized meal at the Lelièvre home (where Cassel points out that Bonnaire is a good cook but needs to learn the proper order and rules for serving).