8 Women

oh, the french are a crazy lot, aren't they? i had no idea what i was getting into when i put 8 women in my netflix queue! i was lured by the brilliant cast (catherine deneuve, emmanuelle beart, ludivine sagnier, isabelle huppert, and virginie ledoyen) and feeling tres francais, so i popped it in. it's a lavish uppercrust with underbelly whodunit musical, all photographed in highly emphasized technicolor hues. i thought that it would, at most moments, play extremely well as a big splashy broadway show. the trouble with that notion, however, is that each character sings one little songlette a piece, which would have to be adjusted for the power ballads and group numbers that are the big deal in musicals. so really, i wished they'd taken the musical aspect and done one of two things: amped it up more, or, done away with it altogether. most of the songs and singers appeared as completely awkward and uncomfortable, with the phrasing, lyrics, tunes, and motions of the songs. the performances were right on, the plot thoroughly engaging, and the storyline full of twists (although some predictable, except the ending, which i came close to guessing, but not entirely).