Femme Fatale DVD with Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote (R) +Movie Reviews

Best film of 2002

Andrew White | Washington, DC | 02/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mr. De Palma is not a critics' darling, and as such his latest, Femme Fatale, has come in for his usual roasting. Is it deserved? Not if you love a film that embraces the visual splendour and techniques that make cinema a unique art form. Not if you love the medium. Not if you love film.Femme Fatale sees De Palma returning to his forte and his professed preferred genre: the suspense thriller. It is a welcome return considering his recent fare have seen him straying to more mainstream efforts - Mission to Mars, Mission: Impossible - that were shells of his virtuoso films of the late 70s and early 80s. The film leads off with a stunning 20-minute Jewel heist sequence that takes place during the Cannes film festival of 2001. Completely bereft of dialogue, a la Topkapi, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos's character has the enviable task of lifting a diamond dress from Rie Rasmussun in a bathroom encounter. His first original screenplay in 10 years, De Palma writes a tightly-plotted tale that certainly does not lead the audience by the hand, and the resulting twists it provides will allow different perspectives on the film's events with repeat viewings. It's not passive cinema; too often a film will guide the audience by the hand like a child. De Palma's direction and script respects the audience's intelligence, and it is indeed satisfying.Antonio Banderas - usually lost without cause if not working with Robert Rodriguez - does what he needs to do with efficiency; Romijn-Stamos, the Femme Fatale of the title, provides the eye candy. The acting is not top drawer, but it does not need to be: we're here to see an auteur in his element: De Palma delivers. I must clarrify that what we are watching is not top-drawer talent - De Palma's stature in Hollywood today means that whenever he takes on personal projects, his funding will not allow access to actors that he may have pursued in days gone by - but they do deliver, and it's not the actors we came to see.Cinema is more than a stage with a camera - De Palma uses his camera and cinema technique to brilliant effect. Huge swooping camera movements, split-screen, slow motion sequences, no dialogue and an enveloping orchestral score; De Palma's signature is prevalent. And that is good: a director should never be an autonomous entity, happy to turn out derivative drivel that get the masses in and out - directors for hire are too commonplace in Hollywood today - and that is something that De Palma could never be accused of. Femme Fatale is a great example of a director working in a genre he loves and understands, and given the freedom to create. Total cinema? Indeed, and its smell is sure intoxicating. Welcome back, Mr. De Palma."

Back to Form

Milos Tomin | Netherlands | 09/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The new film by Brian De Palma is what all of his fans have been waiting for. A return to his themes and form of early 80's.
Yes there are echoes of Hitchcock in this film but not only in the casting of lead actress and the opening with a diamond heist during Cannes film festival on the French Riviera. It seems that with this Film De Palma appropriates the whole tradition of European baroque and surreal thrillers from Dario Argento and Alain Corneaux. Use of a European cinematographer certainly helped. It would be simple to say that this film combines parts of various plots from his earlier films as well as all the visual skills of Blow Out, Mission Impossible, Carlito's Way and The Untouchables. The warm colors bring memories of sun drenched Miami of Scarface, the lead actress those of Body Double etc...
The problem of this film for some people might be it's completely invented story i.e. the kind you do not expect in life but then cinema is larger than life and by using classical means of storytelling and visual narration De Palma has created a morality play that revives what was best in Hitchcock and cinema of the 50's with a thoroughly modern sensibility. Rebecca Romijn is perfectly cast and will surprise many.
It seems that the less money De Palma has to play with the better his films get. It could have something to do with the producers but he also wrote the screenplay on this one.
A modern classic."

De Palma's best film since 1989's "Casualties of War"

Matthew | Seattle | 04/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Is Brian De Palma an artistic genius, or what? This is his best movie since 1989's "Casualities of War" and 1987's "The Untouchables." While "Femme Fatale" isn't as character driven as "Casualties of War" or "The Untouchables", it still draws you into the story much like "Scarface" (also directed by De Palma) where it was hard to like any of the characters of that film either.The budget for the film was only $35 million. Normally I'd stay away from a movie starring Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. But the way critics talked about "Femme Fatale" made me want to see it, so I bought the DVD.De Palma wrote "Femme Fatale" and during one of the featurettes after watching the movie on DVD, one of the producers said how about 1/3 of the movie was in the script, and the rest of it DePalma came up with while shooting (the way the film looked.) The producer who said this had worked with many directors including Spielberg. The idea that De Palma shoots a film the way he does must be very challenging, but at the same time exciting for the cast and crew.De Palma admits that those seeing "Femme Fatale" will be split down the middle near the end of the movie upon finding out what's been going on for the past 100 minutes. But like Antonio Banderas says in one of the featurettes, De Palma doesn't care. He'd rather be artistic and challenge his audience. Whether that comes across to you like it did for me, I guess that depends on what kinds of movies you like you see.The film is beautifully shot by Thierry Arbogast, and the score by Ryuichi Sakamoto couldn't be better. Antonio had some very funny lines, and the two French actors who are in on the original heist are perfect for the movie.Not at any point was I disappointed except with one line of dialogue said by Antonio which was cornball, but Rebecca's follow-up fixed it.The set decoration by Françoise Benoît-Fresco was fascinating. You'll understand what I mean when you see what he does with Antonio's apartment...Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised and look forward to watching this again and again. I guess the only thing I can complain about is why doesn't De Palma do any commentary tracks on his DVDs?"

Femme Fatale

Daniel B. Waldman | Kensington, Maryland USA | 04/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Brian DePalma has a delightfully wicked sense of irony, and a twisted sense of humor which is sadly lacking and sorely missed in today's overly self-serious pop culture. This makes watching Femme Fatale feel fresh and exciting, even though such irony was a prime staple of movies in the '70's -- a decade largely regarded as DePalma's prime. That is when he directed Carrie, Phantom of the Paradise & Dressed to Kill, among others. The Femme Fatale in this movie is a diamond thief/con-artist named Laure who assumes the identity of another woman to escape some partners she double crossed. She is wonderfully evil, and great fun to watch as she manipulates the men around her using her body and her tears in order to get what she wants.But there is a great deal more of this movie to love. Brian DePalma delights in playing tricks with cinematic conventions both narrative and visual. His love for unusual camera angles is still present in this film, which delivers a plot that twists and turns as seductively as Laure's strip tease. I picked up clues as to one major plot twist early on, hoping I would be wrong. I was partly right, DePalma took something that would have left me groaning in lesser hands and twisted it so that I was laughing with delight as the climax approached. DePalma has also mellowed out a bit with this movie. Much of his prior films would feature gallons of bright red blood and gruesome, creative, deaths of beautiful women. This film keeps much of the fake blood away from the women, cutting away from any of their more potentially gruesome death scenes.This movie is highly rescommended to those who enjoy being surprised. Watch it. You may think you have it figured out, but there is no way anyone could guess the ending. As the credits start to roll, you will realise that you were in the hands of a cinematic master with an impish sense of humor."

Stunning, clever thriller

J. C. Stine | Vancouver, BC | 11/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have read mixed reviews of this thriller by one of the best directors of our time, Brian De Palma. If you are a fan of his work then I can't see where you could go wrong here. This film has all the elements that make a spellbinding story: interesting lead characters, horrifying villians, and enough material to keep you guessing until the very end. I left the theater thinking about this movie, never misunderstanding the plot, but pondering over the details the director/writer carefully infused into the narrative. The music is beautiful, as well as the locales, then again how can you go wrong with Paris? The movie opens at a quick pace at the Cannes film festival and doesn't let up until the conclusion. Several scenes are slightly drawn out, but this builds character relationships and the story never drags.
This is the directors's best in years!"

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