‘Trouble Every Day’ Director Claire Denis Returns to Cannibalism with Crime Thriller ‘The Soap Maker’
French filmmaker Claire Denis (High Life) made waves in 2001 with the erotic cannibal thriller Trouble Every Day. Now, the auteur is in talks to venture back into cannibal territory to helm crime drama The Soap Maker, Variety reports today. The English-language film is a remake of the 1977 dark comedy Gran Bollito (Black Journal) […]
French filmmaker Claire Denis (High Life) made waves in 2001 with the erotic cannibal thriller Trouble Every Day. Now, the auteur is in talks to venture back into cannibal territory to helm crime drama The Soap Maker, Variety reports today.
The English-language film is a remake of the 1977 dark comedy Gran Bollito (Black Journal) by director Mauro Bolognini. The cult film starred Shelley Winters as “a serial killer who cooked the bodies of her victims into soap, cake and cookies.”
What’s even more intriguing is that both The Soap Maker and Gran Bollito are based on the infamous true account of Italy’s Leonarda Cianciulli, a serial killer who emerged in the late ’30s and disposed of her victims’ bodies by incorporating them into baked treats, soaps, and candles. Producers of The Soap Maker have access to Cianciulli’s diary, which was allegedly written in the psychiatric prison where she was held after confessing to her crimes. Variety notes that the project will incorporate the witchcraft detailed in the diary that allowed Cianciulli to lure victims.
The remake is being described as “an elevated real crime drama in the vein of Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and Get Out, with a decidedly dark tone and a psychological thriller feel.“
It’ll be interesting to see Denis’ approach, nearly 25 years after initially making waves with the violent, erotic Trouble Every Day. Claire Denis’ divisive film, starring Inside‘s Béatrice Dalle and Vincent Gallo revolves around two couples at opposite stages of their relationships, connected by an insatiable, all-consuming sexual desire to consume human flesh. Denis keeps the narrative thinly sketched and hard to grab ahold of while never shying away from graphic depictions of the feeding frenzies. “Consume” serves as the central word here, open to multiple interpretations.
It feels very safe to say, based on Denis’ body of work, that we shouldn’t expect a straightforward interpretation here.
The Soap Maker is currently being shopped at Berlin’s EFM, so stay tuned for details on this project as they arrive.
