Death And The Maiden (1994)

Several years after the fall of a fascist regime in an unnamed Latin American country, a woman (Sigourney Weaver) is shattered when she recognizes the man (Ben Kingsley) who brings her husband (Stuart Wilson) home after his car has a flat tire. She is convinced he is the man who repeatedly tortured and raped her when she was a political prisoner of the former regime. But is he? Or is he an innocent victim of her unstable mind? Based on the play by Ariel Dorfman and directed by Roman Polanski, this three character stage piece retains its claustrophobic intimacy yet remains a potent cinematic experience. Polanski seems to have a knack for these intimate plays to screen adaptation, his film of CARNAGE (which only had 4 characters) was very good too. The play ended on an ambiguous note, never revealing the truth. The film gives us the catharsis of knowing the truth although a weak argument could be made that it also is ambiguous. The acting is first rate with Weaver giving one of her best ever performances. A minimal underscore by Wojciech Kilar is quite effective.