Elle (2016)
Not your A-typical Verhoeven movie.
Well... ok... it kinda is.
It's a Verhoeven movie in that it's brave, unflinching and solidly written and shot.
But it's not a satire, nor a dark comedy, even though some critics who were probably expecting a satirical movie, they actually called it a "rape-satire".
Sure there's a couple scenes here and there with some humour in them... but it isn't a satire nor a comedy. It
really isn't.
Verhoeven goes totally against type, and has created a borderline art-house movie, filled with ambiguous characters (ambiguous in love, sex, and even with basic emotions)... and wrapped the whole lot into a brooding thriller which kinda reminded me of Basic Instinct a couple times.
Now, the movie has Verhoeven's stamp all over it with sex and violence, including some blood and gore within the rape scenes too, a thriller-ish atmosphere... but I think the most effective thing with this film, is that is but PV has held it all back to create what is basically a drama backed up by brave and unflinching imagery and acting.
Basically the message with this film, is about life-choices, and just how f*cked up everyone's lives actually are.
Isabelle Huppert also gives a powerhouse performance.
Gladly, she was recognised as well and won Best Actress in something like 50 or 60 different awards ceremonies
Very strong film... and in technical terms of screenwriting, acting, shooting and overall finished product, I'd say it was Verhoeven's strongest movie to date.
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