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Death and the Maiden | 1995 | R | - 5.8.8

Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley star in the film adaptation of the stage play: a torturer becomes the victim of his previous captive.

SEX/NUDITY 5 - A woman's breasts are briefly seen from the side and then briefly seen from the front. A woman and her husband kiss passionately as he raises her shirt up and kisses her breast (a close-up is seen of this) and it is obvious they are ready to become more intimate. A great deal of talk about rape and sexual torture and a great deal of profane sexual terms are used (although this primarily increases the violence and profanity ratings rather then the sex rating here). A woman pulls her panties off and stuffs them into a man's mouth.

VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - A great deal of talk about violent acts which have occurred makes the film psychologically violent. Details of torture are discussed: electrical shocks, beatings and rape. A woman threatens to kill a man several times and she pulls out a gun twice. A woman hits a man across the face and head with a gun knocking him out and resulting in a head wound that bleeds throughout the movie. A man is tied to a chair and held at gunpoint. Objects are thrown a couple times, and there is a scuffle for the gun. A car is pushed over a cliff.

LANGUAGE 8 - A couple of dozen F-words, half a dozen scatological terms, a few mild obscenities and a handful of profane sexual/anatomical references. Since these words are used to describe sexual torture, the "violence" of these words is increased.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Marriage and trust in marriage, dictatorships, secret police, amnesty, political torture, rape, injustice and revenge.

MESSAGE - Nothing will ever ease the pain of the past so don't follow through on your vengeful thoughts.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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