Elle

Ends just like a typical French movie, if you know about them, youll know.

Very dark but very good!

The DVD was received with a crack in the spindle hold. Will not allow DVD player to read the disc. Asking for a replacement if available.

Isabelle Huppert is amazing in a story that is provocatively contrived yet with a grain of truth at its base. What starts out like some Hollywood revenge fantasy veers into workplace drama, deranged family farce and of course, sexual transgression. Its got all the earmarks of classic Verhoeven: venal men, strong, if bare breasted women, perverse twists, taboo toppling. the director seems to take especial glee in humiliating just about every character in some way or another. Its ultimately a pitch black comedy, with Huppert doing her best Buster Keaton: she takes a licking and pops back up with a sort of aggressive impassivity. It revels in going to extremes, but like a Lynch, Almodovar or Cronenberg movie makes weird sense on its own terms. The story is riffing on the phenomenon of how some victims of trauma come to find comfort, even pleasure in ritualized violence, BDSM, in this case, rape play. Hupperts character is the daughter of a notorious mass murderer grown up to be the CEO of a company that makes hyper violent video games. She seeks to dominate all around her, with mixed success, when a sexual assault puts her on a path of self discovery and acceptance. Really. Less in line with the directors more tepidly risque Hollywood output, Elle hearkens back to the giddy perversity of the The 4th Man. Which makes it kind of a homecoming for Verhoeven, finally returning to making the kind of movies he was clearly put on this earth to do.

Director Paul Verhoeven is famous for his provocative films, often combining sex, violence and psychological power play. Actress Isabelle Huppert is famous for her demanding roles, often playing powerful women with an obsession for sex and/or violence. Put the two together and you can guess what you get. Elles lead character, Michèle, is a woman who owns a video game company, specializing in games filled with extreme sex and violence. She casually shares her bed with her best friends husband. She masturbates watching the neighbour unloading the trunk of his car. Her father is a convicted serial killer. Oh, and she doesnt seem to mind getting raped. At least, thats the impression after the very first scene. After having been attacked and violently raped, she doesnt call the police of even a friend, but a fast food restaurant, ordering something to eat. The film explores not only Michèles relationship with her rapist, whose identity is established after about two thirds of the film, but also the men and women in her immediate circle. They all have their problems and peculiarities, and Michèle seems to pull all their strings as a hard, cold woman, superbly mastering her feelings and emotions. For the viewer, it takes some effort to understand all the different relationships, and even more to grasp Michèles behaviour. The only explanation Verhoeven offers, is her troubled youth as the daughter of a serial killer. In my opinion, the film suffers from an overload of characters with psychological difficulties. Theres a mother hiring a gigolo because she cant accept getting older, theres a son clinging to a dominating girlfriend, a neighbour with a wife obsessed with religion, an employee playing a dirty trick on Michèle, and so on. Personally, I found it a bit too much. The one thing that stands out in this film, is Isabelle Hupperts acting. Any other actress could easily have made Michèles character unbelievable. But Hupperts utter detachment from any form of sensitivity makes the part completely convincing.

I like Paul.Verhoeven movies but I really like his commentaries. It helps me understand the weird choices he makes in his films. I was very disappointed to find that this bluray does not have director commentary. The story is weird and kind of freaky for the normal US viewer. If you are a Verhoeven fan rent this instead of buying with the lack of special features its not worth the bluray price.

Such a good movie. The lead access is a doll .

After seeing this, I understand why the amazing Isabelle Huppert didnt win the Oscar. No way PC academy voters would honor a film or character like this. But I loved it for the most part and shes terrific in it. Way more watchable and satisfying than I thought it would be, right up until that smack with a piece of wood near the end. Thats the moment when Elle let me down and proved not to be as smart as I thought it was -- and concluding with a bunch of too-neat and unrealistic resolutions that betray the unconventionality of everything that came before. Still, this harks back to the early, great films of director Verhoeven like Turkish Delight and The Fourth Man. Definitely worth seeing.

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.

Interesting movie about a woman who is raped and plays a cat and mouse game with her attacker all the while secretly in a twisted lust with the experience. Shes a powerful woman working in a mans world, owning a video game company and trying to live life and escape her past. With a troubled relationship with her son and his girlfriend, her man lusting mother and her criminal father she becomes obsessed with her attacker and almost seemingly turned on as well. Its very different, a foreign film that goes slow at times but def keeps you guessing.