Holy merd! The film broke.

"Is there a better actress than Isabelle Huppert?" John Waters asked the crowd after the screening of his pick for the festival, "Story of Women," a French film by Claude Chabrol that was released in 1988.

No one could come up with a better actress than Ms. Huppert, who, it is said, brings a character into herself, rather than wearing her on the outside. If you missed this screening, you can find Isabelle Huppert films on DVD, and Claude Chabrol has directed a number of them. "Madame Bovary" is a good start. Video Americain is your best bet.

Each year for the MFF, Waters chooses to host a film that, for one reason or another, didn't get the exposure and attention it deserved when it first came out. "Story of Women" made distributors very nervous after Catholics protested strongly because of a scene in which the main character, being condemned to death, utters a profanely corrupted "Hail Mary." Amid the controversy, a radical used tear gas to bomb a theater where it was playing in France, and a man died while trying to get out of the theater. (see the NYT story, link at top left corner of this page)

No bombs went off at The Charles, thank God, but we all got a little nervous when, about 7/8 of the way into the movie, the film broke and fizzled out in a loud snap. The crowd was abuzz -- lots of cell phones and Blackberries came out and several people took the opportunity for a restroom break, but Jed Dietz, MFF director, quickly confirmed the break, but said it was being repaired and indeed it was.