ELLE – Review

Isabelle Huppert as Michèle, in Paul Verhoeven’s ELLE.
Photo by Guy Ferrandis/ SBS Productions, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics (c)

Revenge, cleverly achieved by a woman, is the theme of the twisty, sometimes disturbing, and often darkly humorous French thriller ELLE. Audiences expecting art house fare may be surprised to find director Paul Verhoeven’s film so entertaining, particularly since it is about a woman avenging a rape. But many things are surprising about ELLE – its complexity, its family drama, its compassion, and most of all, its complicated heroine Michele LeBlanc, played by Isabelle Huppert in an Oscar-worthy performance.

ELLE opens with a shocking scene, of a rape, but what happens afterwards is shocking too. The scene is presented in a detached manner but we are surprised by the woman’s reaction after her assailant departs. She scolds her cat, who is the sole witness to the attack, for not protecting her, and then cleans up. She does not call the police. Is it shock? Did we misunderstand what we saw? We are immediately filled with questions, and hooked on the story.

This may be the most unpredictable film you see this year. Director Paul Verhoeven may be best known to American audiences for ROBOCOP but his European films have generally been more complex. There is a feminist streak to this film but even that is not simple and straightforward. Verhoeven certainly knows how to craft a film to grip and entertain an audience, but the lurid subject, the film’s unconventional central character, its ambiguity and inky dark, biting humor give that entertainment an unsettling edge. All assumptions are overturned and nothing is what you expect, least of all the complicated human character at the center.

Much of what makes this film so riveting is the astounding Isabelle Huppert, who is on-screen through most of the film. Michele is seeking revenge for rape but she is no ordinary helpless victim. She has a shadowy past, and as the head of a successful company that designs violent video games, she is skilled at constructing violent scenarios. And she has her own history with violence, the child of a serial killer. Her revenge is constructed with the same exacting precision as the company’s games.

Many viewers are likely to feel uneasy about seeing a film that includes a rape but the theme of revenge and Michele’s own quirks quickly turn the tables on who is the final victim. After its shocking start, the film moves on to Michele’s life, professional and personal, and her past. Just as the rape begins to recede in theaudience’s minds, Verhoeven returns to it, and keeps up this back-and-forth throughout the film. Michele runs her video game company with her business partner and best friend Anna (Anne Consigny). At work, Michele is a woman of steely resolve and focus, who is dealing with rebellious employees while pressing them to up the shock value in the newest game they are working on. Many of her employees are men who resent having a female boss, but Michele handles that deftly, in a nice feminist touch.

In her personal life, she copes with her odd mother (Judith Magre), a self-absorbed woman decked out in finery and battling time with the help of a boy toy, and her feelings about her father. Michele also is having an affair with Robert (Christian Berkel), Anna’s husband, and dealing with her own ex-husband Richard (Charles Berling) as well as their grown but immature son Vincent (Jonas Bloquet). Vincent has the girlfriend from hell (Alice Isaaz), who is a pregnant, self-centered tyrant who abuses him. When a handsome neighbor, Patrick (Laurent Lafitte), moves in, he seems to offer a rare bit of male competence in this scenario.

Of course, none of that is quite what it seems nor turns out as we expect, and it is all liberally salted with darkest humor as well as a touching humanity. The film periodically revisits the rape scene at the beginning, and the rapist returns as well, but the focus is always on Michele. That she is plotting revenge is not surprising but how that comes about is. Michele’s cool response after the attack is odd, but we learn there is a reason for her distrust of police and news media. Beside the jarring start, the film has disturbing references to rough sex and violence. But make no mistake, this is not misogyny – this woman is definitely in charge.

Verhoeven proves himself a master of suspense and clever plotting in ELLE, and sets out to keep the audience on edge. The director is greatly aided by Huppert’s remarkable performance. Huppert plays a woman ten years younger than her actual age of 61 but looks younger still. Although we are fascinated by Michele and root for her, there is little that is sweet about this complicated character. Both the rape and her tragic childhood (which we learn about in the film) make her a sympathetic figure but she is still a fearsome force rather than anything cuddly. She certainly can take care of herself, and everyone around her for that matter.

ELLE is the kind of film that sticks in your mind, something you admire for its brilliant construction yet may struggle to say you enjoyed. It certainly provokes thought. The revenge Michele exacts at the end is plotted as carefully and precisely as one of her games, and resolves not only the matter of the rapist but several matters in her personal life. ELLE is an amazing clockwork construction that will leave audiences in a quandary, wanting to cheer for her revenge while squirming with discomfort at the whole process and wondering about what they just experienced.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars