Death and the Maiden (film)

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Death and the Maiden
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roman Polanski
Produced by	Josh Kramer Thom Mount
Written by	Ariel Dorfman Rafael Yglesias
Starring	Sigourney Weaver Ben Kingsley Stuart Wilson
Music by	Wojciech Kilar
Cinematography	Tonino Delli Colli
Editing by	Hervé de Luze
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date(s)	1994
Running time	103 min.
Country	United States United Kingdom France
Language	English
IMDb profile

Death and the Maiden is a 1994 drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the play by Ariel Dorfman, a Chilean exile who escaped the regime of Augusto Pinochet. It starred Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson.

1 Plot Summary
2 Music
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

Paulina Escobar (Weaver) is a housewife married to a prominent lawyer in an unnamed South American country. One day a storm forces her husband Gerardo (Wilson) to ride home with a kind stranger. That chance encounter brings up demons from her past, as she is convinced that the stranger, Dr. Miranda (Kingsley), was part of the old fascist regime and that he tortured and raped her while she was blindfolded. Paulina takes him captive to determine the 'truth'. Despite attempts by both her husband and Miranda to convince her that he is innocent, Paulina is certain that he is the one, and forces her husband to be Miranda's "attorney" in the "trial" that she has placed him on.

Miranda conspires with Gerardo to agree to a false confession (as Paulina states that that is all she wants in exchange for his life), so they write one up and present it to Paulina. Enraged, Paulina deems Miranda as being unrepentant, and threatens to kill him. As Gerardo tries to stop her, Miranda succeeds in getting Paulina's gun, and threatens to kill her if he is not freed. As he advances toward the door, Paulina hits him and after a struggle gets back in control. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, Miranda implores Gerardo to call the place where he claims to have been at the time of Paulina's rape as she leads hims blindfolded out the door to the edge of the cliff. Gerardo contacts the place, and the story is confirmed and he races to inform Paulina, at last convinced that Miranda is innocent. However, it is revealed that the doctors at that time created alibis in order to conceal their identities, and so Paulina rejects this as false. Accepting defeat, Miranda finally tells them that he really was the doctor in a stirring three minute apparent confession, and that he was sorry that the old regime fell.

Gerardo, suddenly angry, attempts to throw Miranda from the cliff only to realize he cannot bring himself to take a life. Paulina apparently accepts the confession, and they both leave Miranda on the cliff as he stares down at the water. In the final scene, Paulina and Gerardo are at the same concert where the film began with Miranda also present looking down with his wife and sons. They cast uncomfortable glances at each other.

[edit] Music

A central motif is Schubert's string quartet in d-minor, which is known as the Death and the Maiden Quartet. The quartet is based on the lied Death and the Maiden, which was also composed by Schubert. A recording of this quartet was played during Paulina's ordeal. The play and hence also the film derive its name from the music.