Femme Fatale (Brian de Palma 2002)
Posted on January 06 at 13.26, 2007 by Eric Mahleb
I grew up watching the films of Brian de Palma.
In those days, he was considered a modern Hitchcock, a master of suspense and an expert at creating worlds full of intrigue and deception. Films such as Blow Out, Obsession, Dressed to Kill, Body Double showed a vast talent for suspense, ambiguity, eroticism, and a masterly control of cinematic technique.
But something happened in the late 80s and in the 90s, and, in a manner reminiscent of John Carpenter, De Palma’s art seems to have vanished during that period (Carlito’s Way being the exception).
It was therefore with some reluctance that I watched Femme Fatale, six years after having almost choked to death in front of Mission to Farce.
The result was pleasantly entertaining. Not a grand film by any means, but it deserves credit as an engaging and playful thriller.
Strong and sly women, glamorous settings, erotic situations, clues disseminated throughout the film for the viewer to decipher, split screens, flash backs, swirling cameras, De Palma uses moviemaking as a tool and device to construct an enhanced reality that plays with our fantasies but never strays too far from the possible. But the objective here is indeed to play and to offer viewers two hours during which they can immerse themselves into this glamorous alternate reality.
I suspect that watching Femme Fatale feels a bit like taking the secret agent memory package offered to Schwarzenegger in Total Recall. For two hours, you might just believe that this alternate world of femme fatales, diamonds, sex and murder is real and that you are a part of it.
My vote: 
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