The Maids (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Maids (1975, Les Bonnes) is a British film directed by Christopher Miles based on the play of the same title by the French dramatist Jean Genet.
The film stars Glenda Jackson as Solange, Susannah York as Claire, Vivien Merchant as Madame, and Mark Burns as Monsieur. The film was produced by Ely Landau for the American Film Theatre, which presented thirteen film adaptations of plays in the United States from 1973 to 1975.
Plot
The two maids are Claire and Solange. Claire is the younger sister, who seems more rebellious, excited by the idea of dominating her older sister in the role of murderer. Solange is the older sister, who seems more reserved, worried about her sister's rebellious behavior, although she actively participates in it.
They work for a wealthy, upper-middle-class woman (Madame), with whom they have a loose relationship. When Madame is away the maids dress in their mistress's dresses, in passages where the characters mix up their roles in sadomasochistic roleplay.
Earlier, Claire, supported by Solange, had written a false letter of denunciation to have Madame's lover (named Monsieur) imprisoned. When Monsieur is released, and has a rendezvous with Madame, the two sisters, afraid that the false letter will give them away, try to poison Madame by making her drink a linden tea to which they've added a high dose of Gardenal.
In the end, Madame doesn't drink the tea, despite Claire's insistence, and leaves to find Monsieur.
In the final scene, Claire plays the role of Madame, and drinks the poisoned drink, dying in reality, but symbolically murdering her mistress after their failure.
The plot of the film was popularly believed to have been inspired by the murders committed in 1933 by Christine and Léa Papin, although this was denied by Genet.
