'' Death in a French Garden '' (french: Péril en la demeure) is a 1985 French
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Michel Deville
Michel Deville (born 13 April 1931) is a French film director and screenwriter.
Deville started his filmmaking career in the late 1950s, paralleling the emergence of the French New Wave directors. He never achieved the level of critical and in ...
. It was entered into the
35th Berlin International Film Festival.
Plot
David Aurphet, a struggling guitar teacher, is invited to give lessons to Viviane Tombsthay, the daughter of a well-to-do couple. The wife, Julia, commences an affair with him while Viviane and a neighbour, Edwige, proposition him. Later, David is robbed but is rescued by a stranger, Daniel Forest, whom he has seen hanging around near the Tombsthay's property. Daniel admits to being a
contract killer
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may b ...
who is on a job and suggests that the robbery is a cover for someone who wishes to injure David's hand, such as a jealous husband.
David receives an anonymous video tape with evidence of his affair; Julia says she has received one, too. He tells Edwige about the video but not about Julia. After he finds that someone has been at his house, he asks Daniel to stay overnight just in case. Julia appears and invites David to her home as her husband is away. After she leaves, Daniel tells David that Julia's husband, Graham, is his intended target. He warns David to be wary of Graham and suggest he avoids Julia for a while. When David refuses, Daniel gives him a hand gun for protection.
David arrives but finds Graham there wanting to kill him. David shoots him. Julia advises David to leave and he seeks refuge with Edwige. She shows him a video that shows that he only injured Graham, who was later killed by Julia.
David is later threatened by Daniel over some missing microfilm. David kills him and leaves the area with Viviane.
Cast
*
Anémone
Anne Bourguignon (; 9 August 1950 – 30 April 2019), known professionally as Anémone (), was a French actress, filmmaker and political activist. She took her stage name in 1968 from the title of her film debut in Philippe Garrel's ''Anémone' ...
as Edwige Ledieu
*
Richard Bohringer
Richard Bohringer (born 16 January 1942) is a French actor.
Personal life
Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, to a French mother and a German father. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has three other children, Mathieu, Richa ...
as Daniel Forest
*
Nicole Garcia as Julia Tombsthay
*
Christophe Malavoy
Christophe Malavoy (born 21 March 1952 in Reutlingen, West Germany), is a French actor.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1952 births
Living people
20th-century French male actors
French male film actors
Most Promising ...
as David Aurphet
*
Michel Piccoli
Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...
as Graham Tombsthay
*
Anaïs Jeanneret as Vivianne Tombsthay
*
Jean-Claude Jay Jean-Claude is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Jean-Claude Ades, an Italian electronic music producer
* Jean-Claude Alibert (died 2020), a French racing driver
* Jean-Claude Amiot (born 1939), a French compose ...
as Father
*
Hélène Roussel
Hélène Roussel, stage name of Yvonne Louise Gabrielle Roussel, (2 September 1932 – 5 December 2022) was a French actress. She was the sister of actress Michèle Morgan and the wife of actor .
Roussel died on 5 December 2022, at the age of ...
as Mother
*
Franck de la Personne
Franck Lapersonne (a.k.a. Franck de la Personne) (born 29 October 1963) is a French comedian, actor theatre director, and political candidate.
Personal life
Franck de la Personne is the son of Jacques Lapersonne and Jacqueline Charlotte Poinson. ...
as Guitar dealer
*
Élisabeth Vitali
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
as Waitress
*
Daniel Vérité
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
as Attacker
References
External links
*
1985 films
1985 drama films
1980s French-language films
French drama films
Films directed by Michel Deville
Adultery in films
Gaumont Film Company films
Films whose director won the Best Director César Award
1980s French films
{{1980s-France-film-stub