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Posted by: Mulhollandrob at April 3, 2003, 12:35 am

Topic: Femme Fatale Forum: JoBlo

Femme Fatale-A unique kind of "badness" Starring: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Eriq Ebouaney, Edouard Montoute, Rie Rasmussen. Written and Directed by Brian De Palma Rated R for Nudity, Sexual Theme , Violence, Adult Language. Running Time 118 Mins Rating **** out **** by Rob Butler As an exercise in pure visual storytelling technique, Writer-Director Brian De Palma's "Femme Fatale" may be the year's most challenging cinematic experiences. The film is challenging much like "Memento" and David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" and it's a type of film that you might get a different expression on each viewing. De Palma directs this caper film as if David Lynch directed hisself, it feels off, perverse, incoherent, but yet so hypnotic, and entertaining at the same time. While viewing the film you make ask yourself why it's so dumb, or why it's so perverse. Has De Palma went crazy? He directs "Femme Fatale" with a new realm of badness, until the finale you receive an idea to why it's so bad. Is it a parody? Is it meant to be bad? The questions are answered in a brilliant finale. There are few directors out there who grasp this dying art the way De Palma does. With a camera in his hands, he becomes both Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson, tricking the eye even as he unfolds tales forever poised to take a left turn into the unexpected. If only "Femme Fatale" were better written. De Palma, credited both as writer and director, has a lot of ideas and he explores them in this sexy caper film. You get the impression that De Palma was making this up as he went along, and trying to make sense of it afterward. You may also get the idea that, at some point, this movie will reveal itself to be about something other than what you think it's about. That would be correct, though that finale turns out to be brilliant. This film even has the same plot of a late night Cinemax movie, you know the movies they show late on Friday nights(hince Skinemax) The film starts with the theft of a $10 million piece of jewelry that doubles as a bikini top. The team that's stealing it does so in broad daylight, in the middle of a lavish Cannes Film Festival premiere. But when something goes wrong and one of the thieves is shot, his partner, Laure (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), takes off with the jewels, leaving him to be caught by the police. She eventually escapes from Paris to America, where she winds up the bride of a software magnate who dreams of being a diplomat. Seven years later, her husband is named ambassador to France. This poses a problem for Laure, now known as Lily: She knows her former partners are looking for her in Paris. So she adopts a strict policy of never allowing herself to be photographed. Eventually, this makes her the target of a French tabloid, which simply can't live without a picture of the mystery woman. So they hire a down-on-his-luck paparazzo (Antonio Banderas) to get the elusive photograph. When it hits the newsstands, he finds himself accused of kidnapping her because she is suddenly nowhere to be found. To its credit, "Femme Fatale" spins along at a dizzying pace. Sometimes, however, there is merely the illusion of forward motion, created by De Palma's use of split-screen images and his endless point-of-view shots.Mr. Banderas has a wormy, slippery aggressiveness as the photographer. Romijn-Stamos, long-legged and haughty, has the attitude, if not the acting chops to pull off this role. Most of De Palma's films are disappointing such as "Snake Eyes," "Mission to Mars" but he has talented films such as "Carrie" and "The Untouchables" and "Femme Fatale" ranks in with one of his best. Overall, "Femme Fatale" is like an elaborate game, cleverly assembled and played, and leaving impression when it's over. Most of the time when we view poor action films such as "XXX", and "Bad Company" it lacks style. Brian De Palma takes a typical caper film mixes it with style, timing, editing, screening, angles, and most of all brilliance. While viewing this film, you may think why does this film feel so off? Why is it so bad? De Palma purposely crafted the film to meant that way, it's perverse filmmaking at it's best. Just think of the movie as a joke or a prank.

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