Elle

Well, full of twists and tangential story lines, which can be good. Boundaries were definitely pushed. However, in this film, conclusions and resolutions were reached without being earned. Story lines just jumped from problem to the problem being solved, which is lazy writing. The performances were good, but ultimately the film left me disappointed.

Woman is raped in her home. The scene is played over and over. She refuses to go to the police as she has a bad history with the police--her father is a mass murder who killed all her neighbors, their kids, and their pets when she was a little girl. In fact the way she robotically goes about her life afterwards you wouldnt think she thought much about it. I think one of her friends even comments on that. In her half-hearted attempt to find out who it is (she thinks it is a young guy who works for her) she continues having an affaire with her best friend and company co-owners husband; she fondles, flirts, and even masturbates (while watching him out the window) to/with her devout Christian neighbors husband; pays for her learning disabled and fast food working sons apartment with his girlfriend who obviously had a baby by someone other than him (the baby comes out black); and gets jealous of her ex-husbands new young Yoga instructor girlfriend. In short, the heroine in this movie, along with the supporting characters, are just vile, immoral, disgusting people. They are damaged in one way or another. They arent redeemed in the end. There is nothing I can relate to in any of them. And as usual with this type of movie, including it being French, there are the cold callous moments in regards to sex and relationships that isnt even human. And what is even more disgusting is that the main character finds out who her rapist is and continues to sleep with him (or let him abuse her depending upon how you look at it). She tells him that their relationship is diseased and twisted when she comes home from a party she invited him to( weirdo). That is, she does this until her son comes home and bashes the rapist/lovers head in (which you get to see in graphic detail) when the son thinks his mom is being assaulted again, which she is not, again, depending upon the definition of depravity you apply to this garbage. There is the usual Hollywood mocking of Christians in the movie and portraying them as weird and demented, right up to the end scene. The woman even owns one of those violent computer game companies. We, the audience, have the pleasure of watching violent scenes from that. Just a disaster of a movie that starts and goes no where.

**** 4-Stars **** Elle is simply she or her in French - and sometimes it. Paul Verhoeven, one of my favorite directors, teams up with Isabelle Huppert, one of my favorite actors, to make a film that is surprising, often shocking, and wholly fascinating. I will watch it again. Warning: this is one of the least politically correct flicks you will ever see - multiple rapes (which our heroine suffers stoically, and perhaps with some curiosity), lots of bed-hopping, and a handful of other things likely to annoy some viewers. But the real question is, can you accept a 63-year-old woman as sexy, strong-willed and a bit of a femme-fatale? French audiences clearly had no problem (Huppert is universally adored, and besides, Catherine Deneuve, a decade older than Huppert, already busted this glass ceiling a few times) - but Im not so sure Americans will be as comfortable with this. Go ahead, watch Elle - I dare ya. Vive la France!

From the description I expected something typical, but it was quite good and unexpected

Some things from France are very tasty, like coq au vin. This is not one of those things. This is tasteless. In fact, making it tasteless would be doing us a favor, because this film tastes like Paul Verhovens junk after a boozy transatlantic flight. Halfway through, the viewer has an aha moment. We realize that while Paul Verhoven made Total Recall, he also made Strippers or whatever that POS with Elizabeth Berkeley was called. This is a POS of a different nature, because he has taken the tastelessness of Strippers and added subtitles. So the whole story of a loathsome post menopausal C word fascinated by rape and in love with her rapist... I honestly cant continue.

Middle aged French porn...

I freely admit that, being male, my concept of female enablement may not be what it should be. If, to you, the phrase means a film about a middle-aged woman striving to keep her partnership going while solving personal problems with her mother, father, partner, son, and daughter-in-law while dealing with being raped at the start of the film then this film will meet your criteria, as she succeeds at everything, in one sense or another. But the trailer identifies Verhoeven (correctly) as the director of /Basic Instinct/, thus making some implications, and, trust me on this, this is /no/ /Basic Instinct/. Not even close. It is well done, to be sure. It is more like /Parenthood/ would have been, had that picture focused on the single parent and ignored the related families. But /Parenthood/ was and is /far/ more entertaining. I also found one aspect somewhat interesting: the dialogue followed a pattern familiar to me from such films as /The Valet/ and /Moliere/. Since those films were farces, I had concluded that these patterns were used in farces, but this is no farce. So, apparently, the French talk this way all the time. Whod a guessed?

I would describe ELLE as a psycho-sexual-mystery-suspense story. As some others have mentioned, this movie is not for everyone. If you have experienced any sexual abuse trauma you should think twice about watching this film. I could barely make it through the rape scenes. Still, this is from the director who brought us BASIC INSTINCT and thats saying something. This is no cheap exploitation flick. A very thought provoking film exploring the sexual and power dynamics between the characters. I wouldnt watch it again but I wont ever forget it.

Its not meant to be a fun movie so if thats what youre looking for then search on. If youre looking for an incredibly well acted, artistic work that probes the psyche of a powerful and troubled woman then this is the movie for you. Totally brilliant, loved it even though it is, at times, disturbing.

Great fantastic film! One of my all time favorites now.