A JUDGEMENT IN STONE

The true story of the Papin sisters, two housekeepers who murdered their employers in provincial France during the 1930s. Jean Genet’s 1947 play The Maids, and Ruth Rendell’s 1977 novel A Judgement in Stone provided first-class material for Claude Chabrol to craft an odd yet riveting film that became a landmark of 1990s French cinema. At the same time, the film gave Isabelle Huppert the unique opportunity to flesh out yet another wholly idiosyncratic character, earning her both the César Award for Best Actress, and the corresponding award at the Venice Film Festival, which she shared with her exceptional co-star Sandrine Bonnaire. A top-notch cinematic depiction of the social disparities and inhibitions of French society, A Judgement in Stone builds to a shockingly escalating crescendo of violence and immorality, exposed through Chabrol’s deeply sarcastic gaze in one of the highlights of his decades-long career. The film was a primary source of inspiration, among others, for one of the triumphs of 21st-century Korean cinema, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite.