La cérémonie

Dec 20 1996 Not Rated 1h 52m
Crime, Drama, Mystery

Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for an upper-class French family, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.

Plot

The upper-class owner of a gallery, Catherine Lelievre, hires the efficient and quiet maid Sophie to work in the family manor in the French countryside. Her husband Georges Lelievre, who is an opera lover, her daughter Melinda and her teenage son Gilles welcome Sophie and appreciate her work. Sophie soon befriends the postmistress Jeanne, who is a bad egg and encourages Sophie to rebel against her employers, but the maid stays submissive. However, Sophie is ashamed of a secret and feels uncomfortable in many situations, finding a way to hide her secret. When Georges tells Sophie that he does not want Jeanne in his house, Sophie stands up to him. Melinda discovers her secret and Sophie blackmails her, but Melinda tells her parents what happened. Georges fires Sophie and she returns to the house later with Jeanne on the rampage.

Written by

Ruth Rendell, Claude Chabrol, Caroline Eliacheff

Directed by

Claude Chabrol

Production Countries

Germany, France

Production Companies

Olga Film GmbH, Prokino Filmproduktion, ZDF, MK2 Films

Languages

Français

Awards

9 wins & 11 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
15,123
Average Rating
7.5 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA