Les Muses orphelines (2000) **

Directed by Robert Favreau. With Marina Orsini, Céline Bonnier and Fanny Mallette. Four siblings, now all grown up, still cannot deal with a tragedy that befell them almost 20 years earlier, when they were all abandoned by their mother. Unlike Lilies, this adaptation of a Michel Marc Bouchard’s play falls short of the mark as far as stylistic innovation and cinematic virtuosity are concerned. But the characters are fascinating, there is an ingenious plot, and the dialogue is sharp. It’s a perfect example of a play so good that even an indifferent adaptation couldn’t completely destroy its potential.