Based on documents compiled by leading French philosopher Michel Foucault, this unique and original film charts the gruesome events which took place in a Normandy village in 1835, when a young man, Pierre Rivière, murdered his mother, sister and brother before fleeing to the countryside. With a cast made up of real-life villagers from the area where the events took place, the detailed re-enactments and careful attention to the gestures of their ancestors serve to create an intense and sometimes disturbing atmosphere of hyper-realism. Details of the crime and of the trial that followed are told from varied perspectives, including the written confession of Pierre himself, and form a rich and complex narrative that interrogates the concepts of “truth” and “history”.
René Allio
Director
Claude Hébert
Pierre Rivière
Jacqueline Milliere
Meme Rivière
Joseph Leportier
Mr. Rivière
Annick Gehan
Aimée
François Regnault
Cast member
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Compulsion70%
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Landru63%
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Educazione siberiana68%
Dossier 13769%
