''Sept morts sur ordonnance'' (''Seven Deaths by Prescription'' or ''Bestial Quartet'') is a

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

French

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

film directed by

Jacques Rouffio Jacques Rouffio (14 August 1928 – 8 July 2016) was a French film director and screenwriter. His 1986 film '' My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister'' was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival The 36th annual Berlin Internatio ...

and starring

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

Marina Vlady Marina Vlady (born 10 May 1938) is a French actress. Biography Vlady was born in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine to White Russian immigrant parents. Her father was an opera singer and her mother was a dancer. Her sisters, now all deceased, were the a ...

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 65-year film career, which began in 1923, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, ...

and

Valérie Mairesse Valérie Mairesse (born 8 June 1954) is a French stage and film actress. She was nominated for the César Awards 1978 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in '' Repérages''. Theater Filmography External links * 1954 births Fr ...

. The film was awarded the

César Award for Best Editing The César Award for Best Editing () is an award presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma since 1976. Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s See also *Academy Award for Best Editing *BAFT ...

, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Screenplay, Dialogue or Adaptation.

Plot

Pierre Losseray is a surgeon at the public hospital in a small provincial town in France (

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

). He has recently suffered a heart attack but has returned to work. He is appreciated by his patients, and is being harassed by Old Brézé, the owner of a nearby medical clinic, who is losing clients and cannot stand competition. In league with his sons and son-in-law, Brézé uses insinuations close to blackmail. Losseray also learns about the story of Doctor Jean-Pierre Berg, another surgeon with a very different lifestyle from Losseray, who was similarly hassled by the same man fifteen years before. He becomes obsessed with it as he discovers what it was about. Berg had killed his three children, his wife and finally himself, apparently when under such pressure; however, the real reason of why he did that remains unclear: he had much charisma, a Boston University diploma, an excellent reputation, a charming wife, and was even about to launch his own private clinic. Losseray, though being constantly bugged by Brézé, gets information – sometimes contradictory – by bits and pieces, becomes more and more obsessed with it and the Brézé clan, and finally understands what really happened. He eventually shares the same fate as Berg. Seemingly without concern, the Brézé clan continue with their nefarious activities. A major role is held by Mathy, a psychiatrist who happens to know, because of his social relations, all the clues about the former story, but gives them reluctantly because he wants to be in good terms with everybody.

Cast

: Doctor Pierre Losseray *

: Doctor Jean-Pierre Berg *

: Jane Berg *

: Muriel Losseray *

: Old Brézé *

Michel Auclair Michel Auclair (born Vladimir Vujović, sr-cyr, Владимир Вујовић; 14 September 1922 – 7 January 1988) was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema. Auclair was born to a Serbian fat ...

: Doctor Mathy *

Monique Mélinand Monique Mélinand (9 March 1916 – 16 May 2012) was a French film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or ...

: Mrs. Giret *

Coline Serreau Coline Serreau (born 29 October 1947) is a French people, French actress, film director and writer. Early life and education She was born in Paris,

: Mrs. Mauvagne *

Antonio Ferrandis Antonio Ferrandis Monrabal (28 February 1921 – 16 October 2000) was a Spanish actor, remembered especially for the role of ''Chanquete'' in the Spanish television series '' Verano azul''. Biography Born on 28 February 1921 in Paterna, pro ...

: Commissaire Giret *

Georg Marischka Georg Marischka (29 June 1922 in Vienna – 9 August 1999 in Munich) was an Austrian actor, screen writer, director and film producer for cinema and television. Life George Marischka was born into the world of film because his father was Hube ...

: Paul Brézé *

José María Prada José María Prada Oterino (31 March 1925 – 13 August 1978) was a Spanish film and television actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1954 and 1978. Partial filmography * ''Doña María the Brave'' (1948) ...

: Simon Mauvagne *

Karl Schönböck Karl Schönböck (4 February 1909 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 24 March 2001 in Munich, Republic of Germany) was an Austrian actor.

: Joseph Brézé *

: Mademoiselle Lambert

External links

* 1975 films French thriller films French drama films 1975 thriller films 1970s French-language films Films directed by Jacques Rouffio 1970s French films {{1970s-France-film-stub