François Ozon makes cold, intricate films, usually thrillers or love stories that are constructed like criminal cases and need to be decrypted. Every few years, he indulges in a loud farce with a feminist twist. In the crime movie with musical numbers 8 WOMEN (2002), the only man on set is a dead man. The suspects are eight divas of French cinema, among them Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert, and Ludivine Sagnier. In POTICHE (2010) Catherine Deneuve plays the wife of a patriarchal umbrella factory owner who takes over the company while her husband is recovering from a heart attack and fraternizes with the communist mayor (Gérard Depardieu). Ozon‘s newest comedy THE CRIME IS MINE is technically set in the 1930s. Unsuccessful actress Madeleine is suspected of murder after a producer is found dead. She is innocent, but in a passionate plea, her friend and roommate, the unsuccessful lawyer Pauline (Rebecca Marder), pleads for self-defense. Madeleine isn‘t just released, she becomes famous. The press loves her, flowers and roles roll in, her lover stands by. Then a copycat speaks out: extroverted brash Odette Chaumette (Isabelle Huppert), former star and ex-lover of the producer, claims to be the murderer. As always, Ozon is on the women‘s side, who fight their way through with intelligence, humor, and quick-wittedness, while the men sit on the sidelines like a lovable collage made up of all the goofy, oblivious commissioners in film history.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy