A novelist who thinks women should die at puberty — then someone obliges.
Part police thriller and part exploration of the dark side of men's attitudes about women, Hygiene de l'assassin concerns a young female journalist, Nina (Barbara Schulz). Nina has scored a plumb assignment, an interview with Tach (Jean Yanne), a well-known but reculsive novelist who rarely speaks to the press. After he passes along his less-than-charitable views about women (including the belief they should be killed in childhood, before they start to menstruate), Nina concludes the interview, but soon finds herself interrogated by police when Tach is found dead and she is the key suspect.
Acting
Jean Yanne's Tach is repulsive yet magnetic — you can't look away.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes philosophy against its audience.
Production
Tach's isolated apartment becomes a character in itself.
Director
François Ruggieri
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Adapted from Amélie Nothomb's 1992 novel, written when she was just 25 — the same age as Nina.
The film flopped commercially but became a cult reference for discussions about 'literary' misogyny in French intellectual culture.
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