MovieChat Forums > 8 femmes (2002) Discussion > Were we supposed to feel bad for Marcel ...

Were we supposed to feel bad for Marcel when...

posted 10 years ago by arlo_elam
5 replies | jump to latest

SPOILERS obviously

Were we supposed to feel bad for Marcel when he kills himself? I don't know about you people but I have a hard time sympathizing with a guy who sleeps with a girl he's raised as his own daughter and then later cries "I'm a victim!" about it.

The whole story was like that. These evil conniving women! Right... Did Marcel not play his part in all the various machinations? Pretty sure he did. He was as guilty of his 'downfall' as anybody. If you feel your life isn't going well, it's kinda on you to fix it instead of passing the buck onto everybody else.

[–] amormortua 10 years ago

It's not a novum for neglected husbands to look for intimacy with their daughters...

The way I see it, he decided to kill himself when he (and thereby the audience) realized that even Catherine's machination was purely selfish... By saying the "ultimate goodbye" Marcel cut the unending circle of exploitation and possibly caused some real reflection... But do I feel sorry for him? No, I admire him.
The burden of guilt is what these women have to live with, so pity is reserved for them.

[–] kantorka_nov 10 years ago

Mistress I get.
But you must be more than somewhat sick in the head to find "daughters" normal, acceptible, or admirable.

[–] amormortua 9 years ago

From Marcel's point of view it's understandable: He knew that Suzon wasn't his daughter, his wife was cheating on him and nearly every person living in his house was trying to exploit him...

A young woman, which in his mind wasn't his daughter, fell in love with him, what's wrong with that?

However writers and Ozon have forgotten about Suzon:

We don't really see how Suzon explained to herself the fact that she is sexually attracted to (then recognized as) her "real" father. That's the problem, it's not covered at all, too bad.

The overall problem with this subplot lies in its sketchiness, it's not developed, rather implied, clearly for its shock value.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gabor-vag 9 years ago

Thank you! My thoughts were the exact same when I saw the movie. I loved it, such great actresses, amazing punch-lines, but this whole "Oh, poor Marcle, he had an affair with his daughter and the help, poor baby" That was just odd, big time. No sympathy from me for the guy, at all.