JACQUELINE SAUVAGE: IT WAS HIM OR ME
(JACQUELINE SAUVAGE: C’ETAIT LUI OU MOI)

Thursday, September 26 – 4:10 pm – Truffaut Theatre
(Screening ends at 5:45 pm)

U.S Premiere | TV Movie | France | 2018 | Drama, Film Noir | 96 min | In French with English subtitles

Directed by: Yves Renier
Written by: Catherine Touzet, Marie Deshaires, Jean Falculete, Nagar Djavadi
Based on the book by: Jacqueline Sauvage, Nathalie Tomasini, Janine Bonaggiunta
Produced by: Franck Calderon (UGC), TF1 Production
Cinematography: Kika Ungaro
Film Editing: Stéphanie Gaurier
Original Score: Brice Davoli
Cast: Muriel Robin (Jacqueline Sauvage), Olivier Marchal (Norbert Marot), Armelle Deutsch (Janine Bonaggiunta), Alix Poisson (Nathalie Tomasini)
Distribution: TF1 Studio
International Sales: TF1  Studios
Original Broadcast: TF1, October 2018

On Monday, September 10, 2012 — after 47 years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her perverse, out-of-control husband — Jacqueline Sauvage loaded three shells into a shotgun and shot Mr. Sauvage as many times in the back. Finally. It was the end of one kind of hell and the beginning of another. And gave rise to a murder trial that garnered massive media coverage, controversy and a public outcry against domestic violence in France in the years that followed. Olivier Marchal is spot-on as Jacqueline’s abusive husband. Muriel Robin turns in a steely, complex performance in the title role of this harrowing, true-life tale of silent suffering, unspeakable shame and pent-up rage. But she never plays “the victim.” Rather, the film portrays Jacqueline as a fiercely devoted mother, prepared to endure almost anything to spare her children from the nightmare that had become her reality. If only that were possible…

Director Yves Rénier began his career as an actor in 1961, performing in some 60 films, TV series and plays, and under the direction of such luminaries as Diane Kurys (Peppermint Soda – COLCOA 2018), Roman Polanski (Frantic), Patrice Chéreau (The Massacre at Paris) and Bertrand Blier (Merci la vie). However, his most beloved and well-known role was as Commissaire Moulin in the highly successful series of the same name, which ran from 1976 through 1982. When the series was brought back in 1989, he moved behind the camera, writing and directing several episodes and keeping the series alive until 2008. Since then, he has directed four TV movies, including Médecin-chef de la Santé, Just a Cop and I Just Wanted to Go Home, all starring Mathilde Seigner.

Presented in association with:

TF1 Studio