Elle

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.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be giving anything starring one of my favorite screen stars a poor review. So many glowing ones here, and yet I am stumped. I loved The Piano Teacher in which she played a sexually suppressed and twisted woman. And I have loved just about everything else shes done. I had high hopes for this film when it started. She looks fabulous; the rest of the cast is great. And yet - it just didnt add up on so many levels, most notably the physical. How could it be that this woman is raped and beaten again and again and yet comes up glowing and bouncy, able to dance with her rapist after having her knee gashed by him. Why is her face seen as perfectly alabaster after multiple throttlings by her horrible abuser? I was somehow led to believe that she extracts her revenge on him, and I thought that was going to be in some clever, interesting way, but no - in the end she is as despicable as the rapist in my opinion, leaving it to an innocent to do the killing. Is her sang froid in so many sensitive situations supposed to imply that she does, after all, take after her psychopathic father? The finale seems to prove this; what she has done to her best friend. But whats particularly troublesome is that she is forgiven, again and again, by the people she uses. That does not ring true. A person like that might be feared but she would also be hated by others, not celebrated and adored. So for me, this is less about a poor woman who is raped than about a total narcissist/sociopath who has no qualms about using everyone around her, including her son, for her twisted needs and desires. No, this one just didnt add up. Mostly, though, it was her lack of any scars or physical repercussions of rape. That is an insult to women who have suffered rape and live with the mental and phsyical damages. Im shocked that critics didnt understand that. The cool, attractive cookie role not only doesnt work here, its destructive to women, and I would not advise any woman I know to see it.

Very dark but very good!

Not quite what I expected (which was something along the lines of Hard Candy) but it wasnt bad, just a bit strange

By far, one of my most favorite movies, ever!

I loved how strong and sexy the lead actress is portrayed while still holding on to her vulnerability throughout however, the plot was somewhat twisted and confusing at the end of the movie. I developed a love affair with each character which says a lot but was left disappointed when each character was left somewhat deflated by the end.

Sometimes the stars align for a film, as is the case with the legendary French actress, Isabelle Huppert taking the lead in Paul Verhoevens in-your-face thriller, Elle. Both the story and the star are superbly matched, here. It is almost cliche to say that Verhoeven is controversial. Hardly any of his English-language films, from Robocop to Basic Instinct did not generate strident conversations. Elle was not different -- is no different -- in its uncomfortable look at the role a strong-willed woman plays in a still male-dominated society. A middle-aged CEO of a computer gaming company in Paris is attacked in her home. Not particularly unique, except that rather than reporting the rape to the police -- which, lets face it, probably wouldnt do any good -- she decides to take matters into her own hands and find the perp herself. She might have gotten more than she bargained for as the rapist begins taunting her, and without spoiling anything, when she finds out who it is it is not only surprising, but a bit anti-climactic. Verhoeven and his lead actress use the unusual, but clearly-told story as a vehicle for interrogating issues of sexual predation, sexism in the corporate world and much else. Rather well, I think.

Isabelle Huppert, extraordinary and exquisite actress! Deserved awards for best actress and best foreign film in the Golden Globes.

An exceptional story in the far limits of passion, madness and suffering. Not for bland spirits, anyway. Huppert is simply awesome.

Intriguing story line, characterization and good acting. But...those French are famous for being all about love and sex. Well, here ya go. Violent sex. Affairs. Fantasy. Masturbation. Marital sex. Murderous sex. Same sex. Etc etc. So Elle is about Elle and Everyone else. I liked it once I settled in and let it be what it was - a sexy French film.