MovieChat Forums > Elle (2016) Discussion > One of the year's worst

One of the year's worst

posted 8 years ago by watchamacallit
7 replies | jump to latest

Came into this one expecting to love it. I'm a big fan of Paul Verhoeven and sexually perverted euro cinema in general, but this film is a pile of crap.

Every single character acts like their brain was removed. The point the film tried to make was delivered after 30 minutes in, so there's no need to stick around t'ill the end credits.

[–] jude-75 8 years ago

[–] Ivan_Inacio 8 years ago

Every single character acts like their brain was removed.

Agreed.

[–] MrEdnablackadder 8 years ago

Don't know if it will really rank up there at the end of the year- considering the quality of the performances and the professional execution- but it was truly horrendous. Knowing Verhoeven's inconsisten track, I was never convinced by the hype for the film, anyway. The first half drags on for too long without seeming to go anywhere, but it's still the most acceptable part of the movie: after that, it's just a series of over the top, implausible events that are designed to scandalize, but only cause annoyance.

Every single character acts like their brain was removed.

Indeed. I mean, it's fine to have a mentally unbalanced leading character reacting anomalously to the surrounding events, so to portray a different, psychologically intriguing story. Huppert is particuarly adept at playing these characters in a compelling way. But, in this movie, no one has a remotely credible reaction to anything that happens (from Anna to Patrick's wife) and the character dynamics eventually become comical. Huppert gets great support from some of her fellow cast members (Consigny, Berkel, the great Judith Magre), but Lafitte's casting is just distracting. Don't know if Verhoeven did it just because he wanted to go for a baffling effect, but he just couldn't deliver the dramatic notes. The direction is pretty ham-fisted to boot (the nativity statue held like a phallic-shaped object isn't the very definition of subtle). It looks like Verhoveven wanted to make his version of "La Pianiste", but, going for the major shocking element in any scene, ended up with a long, monotonous farce that held no surprises, didn't offer any interesting twists nor made for any insightful or complex character study.

[–] Psinex6 8 years ago

Apparently I found the film to be a lot more interesting than you did. I'd imagine many other people will as well.

The first scene is probably the most realistic portrayal of rape I've ever seen on film. Highly disturbing because it lingers and stays with the woman and her aftermath.

How she deals with it is what I found to be interesting. She passes it off as no big deal, to the horror of those she confides in. But deep down, she clearly wants revenge, and says as much once she finds her assailant and her daydream of killing the rapist.

I'm not sure how crazy I was about the whole subplot of her father and childhood. I thought for sure that the rapist was seeking revenge for her father's transgressions. Ie. a relative of the murdered.

Nevertheless, I admire Verhoeven's refinement as a filmmaker. He doesn't need big budget studio visual effects anymore to tell a powerful story. By tying in more realistic themes, there is a lot more weight to the thriller elements in his films.

[–] thekeystone 8 years ago

It seriously is really bad. I don't know how to not recommend this any worse. It's a *beep* show.

[–] about_us 8 years ago

It's terrible.

[–] WarpedRecord 8 years ago

It's a baffling film that packs in disparate elements, runs them through a blender, and hurls them at the screen. It is brutal at times and strangely comedic at others. And yet I found it moderately interesting. 6/10 stars from me.