Death and the Maiden

A woman recognises the voice of the guest her husband has brought home: the doctor who tortured her. She ties him up and convenes a trial in her own living room. Three characters, one house, one night. It comes from Ariel Dorfman's 1990 play, set against post-Pinochet Chile. The film never names the country, but the whole deadlock of transitional justice is there: the choice between exposing the truth and holding a country together, made by people who are not the victim. Sigourney Weaver plays Paulina, Ben Kingsley plays Doctor Miranda and Stuart Wilson plays her husband Gerardo. Roger Ebert wrote that the film is all about acting, which is accurate. The camera does almost nothing and the weight sits entirely on three performers. Schubert's string quartet in D minor circles through the film and gives it its title. Shot in Chile for 12 million dollars, it grossed 8 million worldwide. Who it is for: viewers who like confined thrillers and moral dilemma as theatre. Who it is not for: anyone unprepared for accounts of torture. Nothing is shown, but what is described is extremely heavy.