Elle

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.

Too. Violent

This is a watchable movie. Very well filmed, wonderful set design. It has an intriguing plot that isnt predictable, and it doesnt lag. Great cast.

Excellent acting but a very dark cinema.

For the great acting and very good production. A very twisted story, but not too far from reality for some. I wanted to stop watching it at one point, but I could not. Have you own experience.

Not for everyone! I love Isabelle Huppert. This film is a real challenge for some people. I dont think it is being disrespectful to people who have been through a sexual assault. I think Verhoven wants us to see this film as a tale. It is about how this particular women responds to this sexual assault. As a mental health therapist, I can tell you that no trauma is the same. Therefore, not everyones response is the same. I think this is a brave film that is great to spark conversations with people about. Some people may need to view it a few times to get over the initial shock of seeing it at first. Isabelle Huppert - as always - is perfection.

Woman is raped in her home. The scene is played over and over. She refuses to go to the police as she has a bad history with the police--her father is a mass murder who killed all her neighbors, their kids, and their pets when she was a little girl. In fact the way she robotically goes about her life afterwards you wouldnt think she thought much about it. I think one of her friends even comments on that. In her half-hearted attempt to find out who it is (she thinks it is a young guy who works for her) she continues having an affaire with her best friend and company co-owners husband; she fondles, flirts, and even masturbates (while watching him out the window) to/with her devout Christian neighbors husband; pays for her learning disabled and fast food working sons apartment with his girlfriend who obviously had a baby by someone other than him (the baby comes out black); and gets jealous of her ex-husbands new young Yoga instructor girlfriend. In short, the heroine in this movie, along with the supporting characters, are just vile, immoral, disgusting people. They are damaged in one way or another. They arent redeemed in the end. There is nothing I can relate to in any of them. And as usual with this type of movie, including it being French, there are the cold callous moments in regards to sex and relationships that isnt even human. And what is even more disgusting is that the main character finds out who her rapist is and continues to sleep with him (or let him abuse her depending upon how you look at it). She tells him that their relationship is diseased and twisted when she comes home from a party she invited him to( weirdo). That is, she does this until her son comes home and bashes the rapist/lovers head in (which you get to see in graphic detail) when the son thinks his mom is being assaulted again, which she is not, again, depending upon the definition of depravity you apply to this garbage. There is the usual Hollywood mocking of Christians in the movie and portraying them as weird and demented, right up to the end scene. The woman even owns one of those violent computer game companies. We, the audience, have the pleasure of watching violent scenes from that. Just a disaster of a movie that starts and goes no where.

Well...life is complicated...especially if youre French. But I actually kind of liked it in a perverse sort of way. Interesting story with a strong female lead.

I couldnt even finish the last 15 minutes. No idea why professional reviewers liked it so much. What am I missing? The acting was great, but the story line was repugnant. SPOILER: When you are injured , vulnerable in a remote area, and need a ride, Im pretty damn sure you dont call your rapist for help. And thats not even the most hideous aspect of the plot.

*****Spoilers****** I had to see this because the reviews are so varied. I found it to be an okay film. I think many people missed the point - it is not really about the rape, (which is shocking, and chews up the scenery a lot). This is about a woman traumatized early in life by her father whom she hates. The rapist has some screwed up religious ideologies, and the victim, (Isabelle Huppert - whose true victimization was at the hands of her father as a young child) has a screwed up need to feel punished. This last part comes out as the film progresses - not that I would ever say that a woman would want to be victimized in the way Elle is in the opening scene, but she clearly seeks out a continuation of the violence as the movie progresses. It is difficult to watch, and I had to fast forward through the attack scenes, but I believe Ive solved the puzzle of this film - at least in my mind. What motivated Elle - she was motivated by hatred of her father, and a self hatred that she spread around generously.