Customer Reviews

Femme Fatale [VHS]

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

The new film by Brian De Palma is what all of his fans have been waiting for. A return to his themes and form of early 80's.
Yes there are echoes of Hitchcock in this film but not only in the casting of lead actress and the opening with a diamond heist during Cannes film festival on the French Riviera. It seems that with this Film De Palma appropriates the whole tradition of European baroque and surreal thrillers from Dario Argento and Alain Corneaux. Use of a European cinematographer certainly helped. It would be simple to say that this film combines parts of various plots from his earlier films as well as all the visual skills of Blow Out, Mission Impossible, Carlito's Way and The Untouchables. The warm colors bring memories of sun drenched Miami of Scarface, the lead actress those of Body Double etc...
The problem of this film for some people might be it's completely invented story i.e. the kind you do not expect in life but then cinema is larger than life and by using classical means of storytelling and visual narration De Palma has created a morality play that revives what was best in Hitchcock and cinema of the 50's with a thoroughly modern sensibility. Rebecca Romijn is perfectly cast and will surprise many.
It seems that the less money De Palma has to play with the better his films get. It could have something to do with the producers but he also wrote the screenplay on this one.
A modern classic.

Mr. De Palma is not a critics' darling, and as such his latest, Femme Fatale, has come in for his usual roasting. Is it deserved? Not if you love a film that embraces the visual splendour and techniques that make cinema a unique art form. Not if you love the medium. Not if you love film.

Femme Fatale sees De Palma returning to his forte and his professed preferred genre: the suspense thriller. It is a welcome return considering his recent fare have seen him straying to more mainstream efforts - Mission to Mars, Mission: Impossible - that were shells of his virtuoso films of the late 70s and early 80s.

The film leads off with a stunning 20-minute Jewel heist sequence that takes place during the Cannes film festival of 2001. Completely bereft of dialogue, a la Topkapi, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos's character has the enviable task of lifting a diamond dress from Rie Rasmussun in a bathroom encounter. His first original screenplay in 10 years, De Palma writes a tightly-plotted tale that certainly does not lead the audience by the hand, and the resulting twists it provides will allow different perspectives on the film's events with repeat viewings. It's not passive cinema; too often a film will guide the audience by the hand like a child. De Palma's direction and script respects the audience's intelligence, and it is indeed satisfying.

Antonio Banderas - usually lost without cause if not working with Robert Rodriguez - does what he needs to do with efficiency; Romijn-Stamos, the Femme Fatale of the title, provides the eye candy. The acting is not top drawer, but it does not need to be: we're here to see an auteur in his element: De Palma delivers. I must clarrify that what we are watching is not top-drawer talent - De Palma's stature in Hollywood today means that whenever he takes on personal projects, his funding will not allow access to actors that he may have pursued in days gone by - but they do deliver, and it's not the actors we came to see.

Cinema is more than a stage with a camera - De Palma uses his camera and cinema technique to brilliant effect. Huge swooping camera movements, split-screen, slow motion sequences, no dialogue and an enveloping orchestral score; De Palma's signature is prevalent. And that is good: a director should never be an autonomous entity, happy to turn out derivative drivel that get the masses in and out - directors for hire are too commonplace in Hollywood today - and that is something that De Palma could never be accused of.

Femme Fatale is a great example of a director working in a genre he loves and understands, and given the freedom to create. Total cinema? Indeed, and its smell is sure intoxicating. Welcome back, Mr. De Palma.

Brian DePalma has a delightfully wicked sense of irony, and a twisted sense of humor which is sadly lacking and sorely missed in today's overly self-serious pop culture. This makes watching Femme Fatale feel fresh and exciting, even though such irony was a prime staple of movies in the '70's -- a decade largely regarded as DePalma's prime. That is when he directed Carrie, Phantom of the Paradise & Dressed to Kill, among others.

The Femme Fatale in this movie is a diamond thief/con-artist named Laure who assumes the identity of another woman to escape some partners she double crossed. She is wonderfully evil, and great fun to watch as she manipulates the men around her using her body and her tears in order to get what she wants.

But there is a great deal more of this movie to love. Brian DePalma delights in playing tricks with cinematic conventions both narrative and visual. His love for unusual camera angles is still present in this film, which delivers a plot that twists and turns as seductively as Laure's strip tease. I picked up clues as to one major plot twist early on, hoping I would be wrong. I was partly right, DePalma took something that would have left me groaning in lesser hands and twisted it so that I was laughing with delight as the climax approached.

DePalma has also mellowed out a bit with this movie. Much of his prior films would feature gallons of bright red blood and gruesome, creative, deaths of beautiful women. This film keeps much of the fake blood away from the women, cutting away from any of their more potentially gruesome death scenes.

This movie is highly rescommended to those who enjoy being surprised. Watch it. You may think you have it figured out, but there is no way anyone could guess the ending. As the credits start to roll, you will realise that you were in the hands of a cinematic master with an impish sense of humor.

I have read mixed reviews of this thriller by one of the best directors of our time, Brian De Palma. If you are a fan of his work then I can't see where you could go wrong here. This film has all the elements that make a spellbinding story: interesting lead characters, horrifying villians, and enough material to keep you guessing until the very end. I left the theater thinking about this movie, never misunderstanding the plot, but pondering over the details the director/writer carefully infused into the narrative. The music is beautiful, as well as the locales, then again how can you go wrong with Paris? The movie opens at a quick pace at the Cannes film festival and doesn't let up until the conclusion. Several scenes are slightly drawn out, but this builds character relationships and the story never drags.
This is the directors's best in years!

Is Brian De Palma an artistic genius, or what? This is his best movie since 1989's "Casualities of War" and 1987's "The Untouchables." While "Femme Fatale" isn't as character driven as "Casualties of War" or "The Untouchables", it still draws you into the story much like "Scarface" (also directed by De Palma) where it was hard to like any of the characters of that film either.

The budget for the film was only $35 million. Normally I'd stay away from a movie starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. But the way critics talked about "Femme Fatale" made me want to see it, so I bought the DVD.

De Palma wrote "Femme Fatale" and during one of the featurettes after watching the movie on DVD, one of the producers said how about 1/3 of the movie was in the script, and the rest of it DePalma came up with while shooting (the way the film looked.) The producer who said this had worked with many directors including Spielberg. The idea that De Palma shoots a film the way he does must be very challenging, but at the same time exciting for the cast and crew.

De Palma admits that those seeing "Femme Fatale" will be split down the middle near the end of the movie upon finding out what's been going on for the past 100 minutes. But like Antonio Banderas says in one of the featurettes, De Palma doesn't care. He'd rather be artistic and challenge his audience. Whether that comes across to you like it did for me, I guess that depends on what kinds of movies you like you see.

The film is beautifully shot by Thierry Arbogast, and the score by Ryuichi Sakamoto couldn't be better. Antonio had some very funny lines, and the two French actors who are in on the original heist are perfect for the movie.

Not at any point was I disappointed except with one line of dialogue said by Antonio which was cornball, but Rebecca's follow-up fixed it.

The set decoration by Françoise Benoît-Fresco was fascinating. You'll understand what I mean when you see what he does with Antonio's apartment...

Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised and look forward to watching this again and again. I guess the only thing I can complain about is why doesn't De Palma do any commentary tracks on his DVDs?

I caught this in the theater and am glad to see all the positive reviews from people who have discovered this gem on dvd. Femme Fatale is an excellent twist a minute thriller. I love the opening heist scene at the Cannes Film Festival. It's great the way De Palma builds suspense by using the playful music theme, and builds on it, instead of using typical "shock" thriller music. It is fine movie making.

However, while it is stylish and sexy throughout the first part, it is truly the ending that makes the movie. Some may say it counts too much on the conclusion, but I found the solution to be perfectly sly. I couldn't help but grin at the cleverness of the last 10 minutes.

Both leads are good in their parts, but Rebecca Romjin-Stamos soars in this role. She is THE woman for THE part. Brian De Palma directs Femme Fatale masterfully with the wisdom he has gained over the years. It's a wild ride. Well Done!

PS.

Femme Fatale is Brian De Palma's all style, little story film noir about a woman (Rebecca Romijin-Stamos), who makes some poor choices ensnaring an innocent (Antonio Banderas) in her web. It's got the signature De Palma eye candy - eroticism, clever cinematography, and a film which moves by pure style alone - but in the end you'll feel empty, and, unfortunately coming up on the short end for the time you invested in it.

The film begins with a spectacularly improbable jewel heist at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival in which Rebecca and team plot to relieve a mostly naked actress of her few bodily coverings - a priceless gold and diamond serpentine bodice and accoutrements. Although visually and musically interesting, the opening scene asks for many oversights from the viewer - such as ignoring the fact that much of the caper's plan, despite its high tech Mission Impossible style setup, relies on guards looking the wrong way and Rebecca being irresistible. Things go awry, and in the end Rebecca double crosses her team, makes away with the goods, and searches for another life.

She finds one in a couple searching for their runaway daughter, who Rebecca is such a dead ringer for that the woman's own parents can't tell the difference. She assumes her identity, claims her tickets to America, and, through fate, falls into the romantic embrace of the American ambassor who is on the plane. Life is great until paparazzi photographer Antonio Banderas snaps her elusive picture, announcing her presence to the double-crossed bad guys. From there on Rebecca seeks the exit-stage-left route which nets her the most money at any cost.

The story plays like a check list of eroticism - there's voyeurism, a striptease, trists at the Cannes Festival. Brian De Palma does it all with style - split screen, sweeping camera angles - and it is fun to watch him in action - but it's still not enough to plug the holes of the story.

The ending attempts to pull all of the dark themes of the movie into a happy silver lining, but will leave you betrayed.

Despite the star power, I didn't enjoy Femme Fatale. True, Rebecca wasn't blue - fans of her X-Men role won't be disappointed. Antonio Banderas' character had one or two interesting scenes, but on the most part trounced along doing whatever he was manipulated into doing, with no original solutions out of his situation. Seeing him come up with a clever escape would have been a much better ending - but, as it is, instead the end relied on an overdone gimmick to get out of it's dreary finale.

Pass on Femme Fatale - even if you're looking to see Rebecca in a non-X-Men light. Despite all the glitz it just isn't worth the investment.

Brian de Palma has a very peculiar way of directing his movies. The long shots, the divided screen showing different angles of the same scene at the same time, the moving camera, all this he's always done, and well-done. Unfortunately, his last two movies were so bad (with the exceptions of some good scenes) that one had to wonder if Mr. de Palma has lost his directing touch. "Femme fatale" may prove that De Palma is rising again as a director.

The plot is: the amazingly beautiful Rebecca Romijn is part of a gang that steals a diamond-encrusted body-piece in the form of a serpent during one presentation of the 2001 Cannes Festival. When she double-crosses her robbery-mates, she must run to save her life. Then, one of those coincidences that only happens in movies: she takes the place of a woman who commites suicide in front of her, a woman that looks just like her, and runs away to USA. In the plane she meets Peter Coyote, the president of a software company, and who, later on the movie, will be her husband and will also be designed as the American ambassador in Paris. So, Rebecca must go back to France, where she has to hide from ex-paparazzo Antonio Banderas, hired to take a smug shot of the recluse ambassador's wife.

There are dozens of plot-twists, strong sex-scenes (including one lesbian scene) and, during the movie, subtle hints that may or may not lead the spectator to what is really going on in the story.

The ending is a little bit too fantastic, but that's ok, because everything sums up in the end, it's very well tight.

Praise for the model-actress (I forgot her name) who does a scene RUNNING across the streets in enormously high heels. This must be something very difficult and painful to do.

Grade 9.0/10

I first saw this movie in the theater last fall. I enjoyed it. I am a Hitchock junkie. De Palma resurrects so much of what I loved about Hitch: the cool blonde, beautiful clothes, funky plot twists, great settings.
Femme Fatale starts on the French Riviera-shades of To Catch a Thief-at the film festival in Cannes. You're drawn in immediately to the intrigue as our heroine (or anti-heroine) Laure sets up a tryst with a beautiful female model to steal jewels. From there, the movie moves on to Paris and carries the viewer forward in time with our pretty jewel thief. There is a sharp plot twist halfway-if you like it, you'll love the movie. If not, you'll hate it.
Like most Hitchcock movies, the acting performances are secondary to the plot, the story and the setting. Still Rebecca R-S and Antonio Banderas play parts that suit their styles. And they both look great.
I was disappointed in the special features on the DVD. There is no commentary throughout the film-and this film, of all films, demands a voice over.

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos stars as the ultimate femme fatale and all-around bad girl in this stylish but narratively problematic thriller written and directed by Brian dePalma. In the opening minutes of the film, we see Laure (Romijn-Stamos) pull off a complex jewel heist and double-cross her accomplices in the South of France. In a surprising twist of fate, she is able to assume the identity of Lily, a woman who has recently died, and flee to the United States before her disgruntled cohorts catch up with her. She returns to France seven years later, married to a prominent American (Peter Coyote) and with a plan to subvert her past and her husband and make off with a lot of cash.

Femme Fatale is more about style than substance. The characters are seductive. Each scene is packed with visual interest. The plot is serpentine and mysterious. It could have been an entertaining over-the-top story of treachery and clever schemes among shady characters. But it seems more like an exercise in placing those elements on screen than like a cohesive film. I could enjoy most of the film for its cleverness and good looks despite all of its self-conscious cinematic gimmicks. But the story loses all credibility in the third act, which makes for a very unsatisfying, if thought-provoking, ending. Femme Fatale has many of the elements of a good film without actually being one. I give it three stars for being clever and visually sumptuous, and for Rebecca Romijn-Stamos' gutsy performance. Film buffs may enjoy this one for its style, but I question whether anyone else will.