Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writer: David Birke (Screenplay) Philippe Djian (Novel)
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira, Judith Magre, Christian Berkel
Plot: A successful businesswoman gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse as she tracks down the unknown man who raped her.
Tagline – Ingenious!
Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Darker Turn on the Rape Revenge Movie
Story: Elle starts when successful businesswoman Michele (Huppert) is raped in her own home, she continues on her days like nothing happened though, living along she doesn’t know how to react, with her work already controlling her life with her latest video game already passing its deadline. When Michele finally tells somebody, it is her ex-husband and family friends who react in a natural way of checking she is ok, wanting to make sure she follows through with a police report.
When the mystery attacker starts playing games with Michele, she starts wanting to learn who the attacker was, believing it is somebody she knows, she starts to notice the smallest details about the potential suspects too.
Thoughts on Elle
Characters – Michele has had an interesting life, she was raised under a serial killer, which sees her till taking abuse for her father’ action, she has made something of herself though becoming a successful businesswoman in the video game industry, she is cold to most people in her life including her mother and ex-husband, she isn’t close to her son’s girlfriend either. She does get raped in her own home, only she does seem to just shake it off like nothing, until that person starts playing games with her, which sees her starting to rethink the incident, trying to solve who was behind it. Patrick I the neighbor that Michele has become obsessed with when it comes to solving her own loneliness even though he is married. Anna is one of the closest friends that Michele has in her life, they has a unique bond too. Richard is the ex-husband that is worried about Michele, even though he has moved on with his life with a new woman in his life.
Performances – Isabelle Huppert is wonderful in the leading role of this film, she shows the cold hearted figure in everyday life, which helps us understand her characters mindset after the attack, we see how she brings the character to life unlike any one we have seen in a rape revenge style movie. Diving into the rest of the cast, most are all great, without coming close to how standout Huppert is.
Story – The story here follows the successful businessman that gets attacked and raped inside her own home, she doesn’t react in the way we expect trying to continue on with her life as normal, which goes as planned for her, until she gets caught up in a game with her rapist, one that she starts to enjoy. This story does change how the rape victim reacts, she doesn’t close off, she actually opens up more discovering more about herself because of what happened, seeing the errors of her ways in her life, trying to become a better person, as she always sees herself as the victim after her serial killer father’s actions. This could be considered somewhat negative, but seeing the change in the person, rather than just going for a rape revenge idea is the biggest spin on the story.
Crime – The crime side of the film sees how the rapist operates to get his victim, we see how the victim doesn’t want to involve the police because of their names reputation.
Settings – The film is set in Paris which shows us just how the everyday life of the businesswoman operates in her life.
Scene of the Movie – Video game creator twist.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does seem to show the enjoyment from being raped for the victim.
Final Thoughts – This is an interesting spin on the rape story, we see enjoyment from it in the victim, who can see they have made errors in life, needing to fix their own life before understanding the wrong doing in the attack.
Overall: Life spins in different directions.
Rating
