Les Mots pour le dire (1983)

Plot Summary

A psychological drama that details the tormented relationship between Marie and her mother, stemming from Marie's childhood on their estate in Algeria. The mother, Eliane had lost a child before Marie was born and was consumed with hatred for her husband who was carrying tuberculosis and may have been the cause of the child's death. That hatred was never resolved, and Marie grew up in a bitter and strained household. As both women grow older, Marie marries and raises a family while her mother sinks ever deeper into anger, frustration, poverty, and isolated despair. She vents her destructive emotions on her daughter and is completely resistant to her daughter's attempts to help her, to make her life better.

Full Cast & Characters

Nicole Garcia

Marie Saint-Jean

Marie-Christine Barrault

Eliane Saint-Jean

Daniel Mesguich

Psychoanalyst

Claude Rich

Guillaume Talbiac

Jean-Luc Boutté

François

Michèle Baumgartner

Michèle

Jean-Louis Foulquier

Bertheas

Robin Renucci

Marie's father

Céline Blanc-Potard

Jeanne

Violaine Gonce

Marie, child

Denise Noël

Nurse

Bernard Montagner

Intern

Director & Crew

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