2016 Directed by Paul Verhoeven
When Michèle, the CEO of a gaming software company, is attacked in her home by an unknown assailant, she refuses to let it alter her precisely ordered life. She manages crises involving family, all the while becoming engaged in a game of cat and mouse with her stalker.
Isabelle Huppert Laurent Lafitte Anne Consigny Charles Berling Virginie Efira Judith Magre Christian Berkel Jonas Bloquet Alice Isaaz Vimala Pons Raphaël Lenglet Arthur Mazet Lucas Prisor Hugo Conzelmann Stéphane Bak Hugues Martel Anne Loiret Nicolas Beaucaire David Léotard Loïc Legendre Jean-Noël Martin Eric Savin Zohar Wexler Olivia Gotanègre Raphaël Kahn Jina Djemba Nicolas Ullmann Florent Peiffer Laurent Orry Show All…
Cyril Holtz Alessandro Checcacci Guillaume Couturier Gwennolé Le Borgne Damien Lazzerini Alexis Place
France 2 Cinéma SBS Productions OCS Casa Kafka Pictures Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion GmbH Casa Kafka Pictures Movie Tax Shelter Empowered by Belfius Proximus CNC Canal+ France Télévisions Entre Chien et Loup FFA
Intense violence and sexual transgression Thrillers and murder mysteries violence, shock, disturbing, brutal or graphic sex, sexuality, relationships, erotic or feelings murder, crime, drama, compelling or gripping sexuality, sex, disturbed, unconventional or challenging cops, murder, thriller, detective or crime Show All…
“I see you’re staying in character.” “A big part of my character is being unpredictable.”
Note: To the extent a character study can be spoiled, the following contains some spoilers—but if you don’t wish to know what happens in Elle, then you probably shouldn’t be reading about Elle, now should you?
Early in Elle, Paul Verhoeven’s latest provocation, Michèle Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert) parks her car outside a restaurant at which she plans to have dinner with her ex-husband, Richard Casamayou (Charles Berling), her best friend and business partner, Anna (Anne Consigny), and Anna’s husband, Robert (Christian Berkel). Parallel parking, Michèle backs into another car—undeterred, she continues to nudge the car until it moves backward and its fender is detached (though…
One of cinema's greatest perverts makes his manifesto on guilt and taboo desire.
Demonlover 2, indeed. There was certainly a sense that Assayas owed to Verhoeven in terms of aesthetics and provocation — hentai and CGI porn essentially mimicking RoboCop's cuts to absurd commercials, or its frankness toward sexual taboo, among other things. This returns here via video game cutscenes, perhaps as a discreet reminder of the director we're dealing with — one who has been largely absent for more than 15 years, save for 2006's Black Book — cutting into a film that is otherwise more restrained (for all its 'controversy'), more in tune with the sensibilities of European filmmaking. Raunchy as ever, but its intensity is set to a steamy simmer when compared to the erupting, chromatic, muscular vigor of Total…
women forced to search for their own avenues of power and pleasure in a world dominated by masculine aggression and desire, step one: manipulating that aggression/violence so that it's on a collision course with itself, rather than another victim... way too much to unpack here, and way better writers more qualified to do it.
“Shame isn't a strong enough emotion to stop us from doing anything at all”. There’s a lot of perceptive writing on this already so no need to praise Huppert and Verhoeven more, but two quick observations:
a) this makes for a great double bill with Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness starring Huppert, not one of her best movies but they complement each other very well. I’m surprised the connection hasn’t been discussed more.
b) I was laughing alone in a sell-out theatre a lot, particular in the first half, which just made my belief we need more pervy jokesters like Verhoeven to shake current cinema from its complacent place.
I'm normally a huge fan of provocative films but this one rubbed me the wrong way!
I didn't find it to be empowering.. nor feminist as I was led to believe by reviews!
Written and directed by a man depicting his warped version of a strong woman thereby propagating the myth that women secretly want to be abused! And apparently an equally disturbing definition of Women's Empowerment! Women's Empowerment demands equality in regards to rights and freedoms enjoyed by men, equal pay and control over our own bodies! We don't aspire to mimic the very worst attributes of man as was portrayed in the film!
Misogyny rearing its ugly head disguised as a feminist voice in film when in all…
