Martyrs

Year:

2008

Duration:

99 min

Genres:

Drama | Horror

IMDB rate:

7.1

Director:

Pascal Laugier

Awards:

7 wins & 8 nominations

Details

Country: France

Release Date: 2008-09-03

Filming Locations: Québec, Canada

Cast

Actor

Character

Mylène Jampanoï

Martyrs

Morjana Alaoui

Anna

Catherine Bégin

Mademoiselle

Robert Toupin

Le père

Patricia Tulasne

La mère

Juliette Gosselin

Marie

Xavier Dolan

Antoine (as Xavier Dolan-Tadros)

Louise Boisvert

Mère d'Anna (voice)

Jean-Marie Moncelet

Étienne

Jessie Pham

Lucie 10 ans

Erika Scott

Anna 10 ans

Isabelle Chasse

La créature

Emilie Miskdjian

La suppliciée

Tony Robinow

Docteur

Anie Pascale

La femme bourreau

Mike Chute

Bourreau

Gaëlle Cohen

Femme de main

Louis Thevenon

1er homme de main

Jean-François Boudreau

Homme de main (as Jean-François Boudreault)

Michel Cormier

Homme de main

Jean-Bernard Côté

Homme de main

Patrick Dorval

Homme de main

Mathieu Samaille

Homme de main

Daniel Deburghgraeve

Vieil arrivant

Philippe Laugler

Inspecteur (as Philippe Laugier)

Hervé Desbois

Infirmier

Mario Mancini

Chauffeur Mademoiselle

Olivier Villeneuve

Enfant institut

Did you know?

Trivia

Pascal Laugier has stated he was inspired by Hostel (2005) but instead of making a movie about suffering he wanted to make a movie about pain.

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In Pascal Laugier's previous film House of Voices (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.

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Goofs

Weeks (possibly months) into Anna's capture, well after they've shaved her head, there's a close-up of her legs during the sponge bath scene. They are neatly, smoothly shaven. Aside from the fact that this would not have been a priority in her situation, she could not have done it herself. As for the captors, there is no reason why they would've shaven her legs, considering the way they otherwise treat her. It is also not necessary for them to have her legs be shaven for the final skinning.

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When Lucie and the remaining corpses are thrown into the hole by the people in black, the son's pants appears nearly clean, despite the fact that Anna had dragged him through the mud in the pouring rain the night before.

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

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Quotes

Mademoiselle: Lucie was only a victim. Like all the others. It's so easy to create a victim, young lady, so easy. You lock someone in a dark room. They begin to suffer. You feed that suffering. Methodically, systematically and coldly. And make it last. Your subject goes through a number of states. After a while, their trauma; that small, easily opened crack, makes them see things that don't exist.

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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.

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Lucie: Is this making you sick? Can you smell that smell? Smells awful, huh? Every time she bent over me, I could smell that, every day. Understand? And it smelled different when she beat me.

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Faq

Q

Isn't a martyr someone who dies for their beliefs?

A

As the intertitle at the end of the film states, the word 'martyr' derives from original Greek word 'martys' which means 'witness' and refers to someone who testifies to that of their own personal knowledge.In William Tyndales 1534 New Testament, we see martys used in this sense at Acts 22:15, where Ananias tells Saul: The God of our fathers hath ordained thee before, that thou shouldest know his will, and shouldest see that which is rightful, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth: for thou shalt be his witness unto all men of those things which thou hast seen and heard.This is the context of the term's usage in the film--Anna is a 'witness' to the secrets of the afterlife.

Q

What are the differences between the R-Rated and Unrated Version?

A

In the USA, both a censored R-rated and an uncensored unrated version were released. In order to obtain the R-rating, severe cuts had to be made. 58 cuts of in total almost 3 minutes strip the movie of almost every peak of violence. Fortunately, the unrated version is more widely distributed than the R-rated verison. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here.

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