Martyrs (2008)

Director:

Pascal Laugier

Writer:

Pascal Laugier (writer)

Release Date:

3 September 2008 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

They did not finish to be alive...

Plot:

A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Torture | Victim | Torture Chamber | Child Abuse

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Morjana Alaoui	...	Anna
Mylène Jampanoï	...	Lucie
Catherine Bégin	...	Mademoiselle
Robert Toupin	...	Le père
Patricia Tulasne	...	La mère
Juliette Gosselin	...	Marie
Xavier Dolan	...	Antoine (as Xavier Dolan-Tadros)
Isabelle Chasse	...	La Créature
Emilie Miskdjian	...	La Suppliciée
Mike Chute	...	Homme / Bourreau
Gaëlle Cohen	...	Femme de main
Anie Pascale	...	La femme
Jessie Pham	...	Lucie Jeune
Erika Scott	...	Anna Jeune
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louise Boisvert	...	Mère d'anna (voice)
Jean-François Boudreau	...	Homme de main (as Jean-François Boudreault)
Michel Cormier	...	Homme de main
Jean-Bernard Cote	...	Homme de main (as Jean-Bernard Côté)
Daniel Deburghgraeve	...	Vieil arrivant
Hervé Desbois	...	Orderly
Patrick Dorval	...	Homme de main
Philippe Laugler	...	Inspector
Mario Mancini	...	Chauffeur mademoiselle
Jean-Marie Moncelet	...	Étienne
Tony Robinow	...	Docteur
Mathieu Samaille	...	Homme de main
Louis Thevenon	...	Homme de main
Olivier Villeneuve	...	Enfant institut

Directed by
Pascal Laugier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pascal Laugier		writer

Produced by
Frédéric Doniguian	....	executive producer
Marcel Giroux	....	executive producer
Richard Grandpierre	....	producer
Simon Trottier	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex Cortés
Willie Cortés

Cinematography by
Stéphane Martin
Nathalie Moliavko-Visotzky
Bruno Philip

Film Editing by
Sébastien Prangère

Casting by
Helene Rousse

Production Design by
Jean-Andre Carriere

Set Decoration by
Louisa Schabas

Makeup Department
Benoît Lestang	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
Daniel Langlois	....	unit manager
Doris Yoba	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nadine Brassard	....	second assistant director
Carl Roméo Desjardins	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Yves Fontigny	....	property master
Joseph Gagné	....	assistant art director
Maurice Roy	....	graphic artist
Asuka Sugiyama	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Damien Boitel	....	technical assistant
Germain Boulay	....	supervising sound editor
Philippe Mercier	....	sound mixer
Serge Rouquairol	....	sound editor
Julien Sicart	....	additional sound
Steven Utt	....	sound editor
Jérôme Wiciak	....	adr mixer
Jérôme Wiciak	....	foley mixer
Jérôme Wiciak	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Carmelle Beaudoin	....	special effects technician
Kevin Carter	....	special effects contact lenses
Jacques Godbout	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Eric Aubry	....	digital effects artist
Marie-Eve Bedard-Tremblay	....	visual effects coordinator
Odile Beraud	....	scan and shoot
Benoit Blouin	....	digital effects artist
Francois Croteau	....	digital effects artist
Daniel Gaudreau	....	digital compositor
Jonathan Laborde	....	digital effects artist
Bruno-Olivier Laflamme	....	digital effects artist
Jean-Francois Lafleur	....	digital effects artist
Pierre-Simon Lebrun-Chaput	....	visual effects supervisor
Brice Leclert	....	Lustre assistant
Laurent Spillemaecker	....	digital compositor: Buzzimage
Emily Vaillancourt	....	visual effects
Yanick Wilisky	....	visual effects producer: Buzz Image Group

Stunts
Jean-Marc Bellu	....	stunts
Marc-Andre Brisebois	....	stunt double
Alain Bérard	....	stunt double
Gaëlle Cohen	....	stunt coordinator
Nathalie Girard	....	stunt double
Stéphane Lefebvre	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Gregory Loffredo	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-François Dasylva-LaRue	....	lighting technician
Lise Drévillon	....	first assistant camera
François Legris	....	best boy electric (segments)
Alexandre Léglise	....	focus puller: re-shoot
Geoffroy St-Hilaire	....	steadicam operator: "b" camera
Jean-Francois Tousignant	....	first assistant camera
Jean-Francois Tousignant	....	second assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Danièle Brodeur	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Catherine Athon	....	digital intermediate manager
Denis Bedlow	....	assistant editor
Johan Boulanger	....	assistant editor
Jean-Loup Bro	....	digital color grader
Frédéric Casnin	....	photochemical post-production manager
Didier Dekeyser	....	digital intermediate producer
Ornella Del-Vecchio	....	digital conformation
Frederic Jupin	....	digital conformation
Marine Lepoutre	....	assistant digital grader
Philippe Reinaudo	....	digital intermediate technical director
Anita Ribeyrol	....	digital video conformation
Philippe Tourret	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Trevor White	....	colorist: Technicolor Toronto

Transportation Department
Richard Chabot	....	unit driver

Other crew
Kook Ewo	....	title sequence by
Sophie Lebeau	....	assistant accountant
Jane Lu	....	assistant to producers
Joyce Nashawati	....	researcher
Pierre Selinger	....	production attorney
Joe Sisto	....	legal services
Lucio Tomaro	....	location manager

Thanks
Dario Argento	....	dedicatee
Karim Hussain	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Canal Horizons
• Canal+
• CinéCinéma
• Crédit d'Impôt Cinéma et Télévision (with the participation of)
• Crédit d'Impôt pour la Production Cinématographique ou Magnétoscopique Canadienne (with the participation of)
• Eskwad
• TCB Film
• Wild Bunch

Distributors

• Cinema Mondo (2008) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• King Record Co. (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2008) (Turkey) (all media)
• CatchPlay (2010) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Cinéart (2009) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• Cinéart (2009) (Netherlands) (all media)
• King Record Co. (2010) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kojo Pictures (2009) (Australia) (all media)
• Pan Vision Oy (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Pancinema (2009) (South Korea) (all media)
• Paradox Entertainment Group (2009) (Canada) (DVD)
• Quality Films (2008) (Mexico) (all media)
• Senator Film (2008) (Germany) (all media)
• Seville Pictures (2009) (Canada) (all media)
• Tiglon (2009) (Turkey) (all media)
• Weinstein Company, The (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Wild Bunch Distribution (2008) (France) (all media)

Special Effects

• Buzz Image Group

Other Companies

• Arret de Bus  catering
• Camera Department  camera equipment provided by
• Charcuterie de France  catering
• Cinepool  grip and lighting equipment
• GlobalEx Risk Management  insurance
• Halfborn  project promotion
• Polyson  sound post-production
• Productions Modulations  post-production sound services
• Technicolor Creative Services  rushes processing
• Total Casting  extras casting
• Éclair Numérique  digital intermediate

Also Known As:

"Iskence odasi" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Mártírok" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Mártires" - Mexico (alternative title)
"Marttyyrit" - Finland
"Martyres" - Greece (DVD title)
"Martyrs" - Italy (imdb display title)
"Martyrs" - Japan (English title)
"Martyrs: Skazani na strach" - Poland
"Mucednici" - Czech Republic (festival title)
"Mucenice" - Serbia (imdb display title)

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing/severe aberrant behavior involving strong bloody violence, torture, child abuse and some nudity (edited version)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

France | Canada

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

France:-16 (re-rating on appeal) (with warning) | France:-18 (original rating) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Germany:Not Rated (SPIO/JK) (uncut) | UK:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Australia:R | USA:R (edited version) | Netherlands:16 | USA:Unrated (uncut) | Italy:VM18 | South Korea:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/18 | Sweden:15 | Mexico:C | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Malaysia:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Québec, Canada

Company:

Canal Horizons

Trivia:

In Pascal Laugier's previous film Saint Ange (2004), the main character is called Anna Jurin. In Martyrs, Anna is one of the female leads' character names, whilst Lucie Jurin is the other.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As the mother is kicked into the pit, a body flinches to brace itself for the impact of the mother falling on him.

Quotes:

Mademoiselle:Martyrs are exceptional people. They survive pain, they survive total deprivation. They bear all the sins of the earth. They give themselves up. They transcend themselves... they are transfigured.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Viande d'origine française (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Your Witness

Ouch!

I just got back from the midnight screening at TIFF, with a typical Midnight Madness audience that I would characterize as easy to please but difficult to impress. This film impressed us, as it was clearly a cut above (so to speak) the average genre film. The first act takes recent French horror films like High Tension, Inside and Frontiere(s) and shoves them into a hyper-violent blender. So far, so good. The second, far more emotionally grisly act elevates the cinematic experience to almost art-film heights, with sadly realistic parallels to our current insane world situation. Oh, there was a vomiting patron here, too.

The director was there along with the two lead actresses (who are looking much better now, I'm glad to say.) He told us that the film has secured distribution in 40 French-speaking countries, but that he hopes it will be viewed elsewhere on DVD only, to ensure that we see it uncut. Someone asked a question that referenced Michael Haneke's Funny Games, (I didn't quite hear the whole question, as the person was well back in the theater) but it really set M. Laugier off -- he denounced FG as "shit" and proclaimed his film "the anti-Funny Games." He was fine with the hour and a half brutalization of an innocent family, but felt strongly that it didn't have a sufficient point to make, or justification for the violence - "it just ends." I'm not sure I feel that way about FG, but it was interesting to hear his opinion. It's hard to discuss how Martyrs backs up it's pretension to be superior without spoiling it, however. To echo another comment, you'll have to see for yourself. Enjoy (not!)