The Poison ( Le poison: Le crime de Maracon )

The Poison (DVD) (*)

~~$38.99~~ $32.97

Original Title: Le poison: Le crime de Maracon
Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
Switzerland ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
54 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2003 and produced in:
Switzerland ( Germany, Central Europe )

Directed By:
Stéphane Goël

Written By:
Stéphane Goël

Actors:
Stéphane Goël

Synopsis:

In June 1949 the Maracon murders were the main topic of conversation in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Two young girls were killed, without any apparent motive. The police investigation went on for almost twenty years, but the murdere was never found. The incident had a profound impact on the area and created a climate of suspicion that is still there today. Throiugh interviews with the main people involved, this film tells the story of the whole drama and shows how rumours born of the impossible grief poisoned an entire country.

Now aged over 90, police officer Pahud still has not recovered. Neither has the rest of the population of Semsales, a small Swiss village, which seems similar to any other village in the region...except that it still bears the marks of a collective trauma dating back more than 50 years. Two young women, Hélène Monnard and Marie-Thérèse Bovey, were murdered but the case was never solved. As for the facts, 'The Poison' can draw from the voluminous case file, which was closed in 1969: police statements, all kinds of correspondence and photos. But Stéphane Goël is interested in phenomena of another kind. The filmmaker returns on location to analyse the reasons for the collective madness that seized the villagers at the time. Since the investigation was getting nowhere, crazy rumours soon started to spread like wildfire within the small community, poisoning the lives of the locals for decades and bringing people's jealousies, resentment and frustrations to light. 50 years on, although the locals remain tight-lipped, emotion still runs high among the families of the victims, who talk on camera. The same feelings are shared by the suspects found guilty by public condemnation. In some cases, they waited the rest of their lives for absolution...but it never came. In Semsales, rumour injected its poison into the collective consciousness. Its sinister work is still not finished.

The filmmaker returns on location to analyse the reasons for the collective madness that seized the villagers at the time. Crazy rumours soon started to spread like wildfire within the small community, poisoning the lives of the locals for decades.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 06 October, 2010.