FEMME FATALE - DVD review

When director Brian De Palma burst onto the movie scene in the seventies, he was hailed by many critics as a new Hitchcock. Indeed, De Palma's early work showed all the promise of his following in the Master's footsteps.

Films like "Sisters" (1973), "Obsession" (1976), "Carrie" (1976), "Dressed to Kill" (1980), "Blow Out" (1981), "Scarface" (1983), "Body Double" (1984), and "The Untouchables" (1987) combined Hitch's command of mystery, suspense, and sly humor to ensure De Palma a long and memorable career. But with the possible exceptions of "Carlito's Way" and "Mission Impossible," the director hit a fallow period in the nineties with things like "Bonfire of the Vanities," "Raising Cain," "Snake Eyes," and "Mission to Mars."

Thus, it was with a mixture of high hope and worst fears that I awaited his latest venture, "Femme Fatale" (2002). Imagine my surprise when both of my expectations were met. "Femme Fatale" shows all the marks of the writer-director's best work, yet it's sometimes frustratingly pretentious and coy, too, with intentional surprises and ambiguities that can be maddening on first viewing and only come to light when the movie is over. In all, though, I think that "Femme Fatale" is worth a look, its brilliance outshining its muddle by a decent margin.

The movie might best be termed a sexy noir thriller, not an uncommon description of a De Palma film. The movie's title is appropriate, as one of the staples of any film noir is the deadly female, here played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. De Palma says on one of the disc's accompanying featurettes that he is often criticized for making women victims in his movies. This time out the woman's character is decidedly not a victim. Then, to ensure we understand from the outset that this is a modern film noir, the opening credits begin over a television showing the classic forties noir, "Double Indemnity."

Moreover, to confirm that we know the film is going to be sexy, De Palma has chosen not only the sexy Romijn-Stamos to star but the sexy Antonio Banderas as her leading man. Although they don't exactly ignite the screen with their romantic passion, nor are they meant to, they do work well together in an ironic way, which becomes clear by the film's close. Neither she nor Banderas have to be great actors to accomplish their work; they merely have to look good and move as directed. I hate to conjure up visions of Hitchcock's "cattle," but they have no trouble following De Palma's direction.

The plot is a kind of "Mulholland Drive" or "Memento" affair that keeps you guessing most of the time, requires patience to play out, and begs repeat viewing. Except that it's not as multilayered as the aforementioned films. Indeed, once the unexpected is explained in "Femme Fatale," it all seems quite easy, and it's at that time a second run-through is helpful mainly for sorting out the director's handiwork in maintaining a logical continuity you hadn't before recognized was there.

Romijn-Stamos plays a lady named Laure (or is it Lily? You'll have to wait to find out) who is first seen involved in a big jewel robbery at the Cannes Film Festival, one of those "Mission Impossible" heists that are so much fun to watch carried out. Only this time things don't work out as planned, the boss of the gang is wounded and imprisoned, and Laure goes off alone with the loot.

Attempting to hide out, she heads for Paris, where she is mistaken for another woman whom she exactly resembles, a woman whom she watches commit suicide, a woman whose identity and passport to America she conveniently assumes. On the plane to the States she meets a billionaire named Watts (Peter Coyote), and the extended, almost hour-long setup for the film is complete. The amazing thing about this prologue (besides its length) is that it is almost completely free of dialogue! I suppose sometimes actions speak louder than words, and given De Palma's expertise with a camera, one hardly notices the absence of talk.

Anyway, at this point we suddenly fast forward seven years to 2008 and find three major developments: (1) Laure/Lily is now married to the billionaire, who has since become the American Ambassador to France; (2) her old jewel-thief boss has just been let out of prison is determined to get her and the diamonds at all cost; and (3) a slacker photographer, Nick Bardo (played by Antonio Banderas. Remember him? He's in the picture, too), has agreed to try and snap a photograph of the Ambassador's wife, who is supposed to have a mysterious past. In following Laure/Lily to get the picture, Nick becomes involved with the woman, involved with the jewel thieves following her, and involved with conspiracies, kidnappings, ransoms, you name it. This whole arrangement seems pretty far-fetched, but as goofy as it all gets, it maintains one's interest, if only to see just how far De Palma will go with it. You never know what's going to happen next, no matter how incredible, until you finally realize that nothing is as it seems. The movie gives the words "deja vu" new meaning.

The highlight of the film is not so much its plot or characters, however, as it is De Palma's visual style. This particular mode of operation is, of course, similar to what we've seen in his films before, but it is the man's personal cinematic style that sets him apart, and to watch his work is often dazzling. Take the opening sequence, for example, with De Palma's camera gliding effortlessly in and about the Cannes sets in a continuous, smoothly undulating manner accompanied by a tune reminiscent of Ravel's "Bolero." The camera is every bit as slippery as a snake, and we know that any minute something risky (and risqué) is about to occur.

Then there's the seduction scene in a Cannes theater ladies' room, reminiscent of the opening scenes in "Carrie" and "Dressed to Kill," performed behind clouded glass and even more erotic in content. De Palma uses his entire repertoire of photographic technique in "Femme Fatale," from split screens to overhead views, from slow motion to point-of-view shots, from his patented play with mirrors to a perpetual use of running water. Symbols, tricks, effects, ruses, feints, maneuvers, fancy cinematography, and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto's Bernard Herrmann-like score are all at De Palma's disposal. And while many viewers will find his style overwrought, affected, and highly imitative of everything he has already done, I found the approach, like the film, largely engrossing. To put it simply, the film is fun.

Video:
There's little to say about the picture quality except that it is about what one has come to expect from a modern movie reproduced on a new DVD. The anamorphic widescreen dimensions measure approximately 1.74:1 across a normal TV, and the image produced is relatively clean and smooth. Colors are vividly rendered, definition is good, De Palma's use of light and shadow show up well, and there are very few wavering lines. No complaints.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is also good, in a most unspectacular way. That is, the front channels convey a wide left-to-right stereo spread, frequency balance is linear, bass is robust, and dynamics are strong. The surround channels, however, are used sparingly, if at all. When they do come into play, they effectively reinforce ambient sounds and music. Typical of most current movies, dialogue is kept centered no matter from where the characters are speaking. The sound does its job without calling undue attention to itself, which is what I've always believed a good soundtrack and a good sound mix should do.

Extras:
There are four separate featurettes included among the bonus features, which while informative tend to be a bit redundant. The most important is called "Femme Fatale: An Appreciation," lasting some twenty-three minutes and saying about as much as we need to know about the making of the film and the intentions of its writer-director. The others are "Visualizing Femme Fatale," eleven minutes; "Femme Fatale: Dressed to Kill," two minutes; and "Behind the Scenes," four minutes. Then, there are cast and crew filmographies, twenty-nine scene selections, and two theatrical trailers, one in English and one in French. English and French are included as spoken language choices, with English, French, and Spanish for subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
Although "Femme Fatale" is highly derivative of everything De Palma has done before, the resultant work remains original in its own right and fascinating throughout. You may feel cheated or hoodwinked by the time it's over, but that's part of the game. The movie is suspenseful and sensuous, exasperatingly preposterous, and almost every minute entertaining. Sure, it requires a healthy suspension of disbelief; it's what motion pictures are all about.

Despite its being a pretty good film, "Femme Fatale" did poorly at the box office. I don't know if it was because the public found its Hitchcockian-De Palman noir mystery old fashioned and passé or because people heard the film was too gimmicky and offbeat for their taste. After all, you'll find no spectacle, spies, or superheroes anywhere in it. Maybe the public just didn't like or didn't understand the title. Still, the DVD could attract an audience the movie theater did not; we'll see. "Femme Fatale" is rated R for nudity, profanity, violence, and sexual situations.