FEMME FATALE
France, 2002, 114 minutes, Colour.
Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote.
Directed by Brian de Palma.
The title says it, so we can't be surprised at the dastardly doings of Laure, a professional thief who begins the film watching the end of Double Indemnity. Then the apartment curtain is drawn back and we are in the middle of a screening at the Cannes Film Festival where an initial robbery takes place. Then the complications start and we have a psychological thriller that takes us into 2008 and what if…?
Brian de Palma has long been the maker of over the top melodramatic thrillers with heightened sexual overtones. Femme Fatale is another one. And, just as De Palma made Sisters and Obsession long ago and paid homage to Hitchcock, here we have touches of Rear Window and, especially, Vertigo. It is all preposterous, but De Palma has the courage of his convictions, even to a gasping twist ten minutes before the end.
1.The impact of the film? As a thriller? Crime story? American background? European situations? A film about film-making and film technique? The truth of film, the constructions of film, the deceits of film?
2.The film as a work by Brian de Palma, the long influence by Hitchcock, the homage to Hitchcock? The references to Preminger’s Laura? To Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity? Their influence on the plot and style? De Palma’s more baroque style, the portrayal of absurdities – heightened?
3.The use of French and English? The Cannes film festival? Paris locations? The locations and their feel? The score?
4.Laure/Lily and her watching the end of Double Indemnity? Becoming Barbara Stanwyck? The femme fatale? The scheme? Evil and change? The references to Vertigo – via Rear Window?
5.The reality shots of the Cannes film festival? The theatre, the crowds, the screenings? Authentic background? The plan? The celebrities walking up La Marche? Regis Vagnier and his role? The girl and the jewels, the development of the plan, the key, the security, the shaft, the toilet? The two girls, the lesbian? Vagnier and his wondering? The shooting, the blackout? The prison and escape?
6.Laure and her role, adapting, going to Paris, the photos, the church? The transformation to Lily? The airport and her passport? The attack, the falls, Lily’s parents? Security, passport, ticket? Safety?
7.Lily, weeping, the letter and the gun? The roulette? Letting die, taking the place? The first class? Bruce, the band? Strong – then the passing of seven years? The ambassador, his wife, the secret?
8.Nicolas Bardo? The investigation, the photos, seven years, the call, the pressure, taking further photos? The result? Shiff?
9.The criminals, Laure and the magazine? Shiff, watching, killing Veronica?
10.Nicolas Bardo, following, the sex shop, the sun, the hotel? The developing situation in the story? The car and the inhaler? The set-up? Sex, the arrest and interrogation? The ambassador let go?
11.The home keys, the email, the kidnapping, the bridge, shooting, death – and throwing her over?
12.The dream, waking up, Lily and chance, the seven years, Veronica, the criminals killed because of the gifts? The truck driver and the gift? Veronica and Laure? Nicolas?
13.The twist at the end, the dreams? The baroque style: melodrama, manipulation, presentation of evil?
