Elle

Elle

by Smiley 23 February 2017

Those of you who follow the Outline film pages will know that we love a bit of controversy, and movies don't get much more controversial than March's film of the month, Elle. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, who is no stranger to causing a storm-in-a-gender-tea-cup, be it for the right reasons (Basic Instinct), or the wrong ones (Showgirls), this European rape-revenge comedy thriller (yes, you read that correctly) has already gained an Oscar nomination for its leading actress, Isabelle Huppert, but is dividing opinion ever since it closed the Cannes film festival. And for good reason.

You see, it's not that the opening sexual assault is so shocking (although it is), but it's the fact that the movie denies you the expected (and valid) moral outrage that you assume would follow such a horrifically offensive act. Don't get me wrong, in no way does this movie condone the rape, but Huppert’s "victim" is as complex a character as you will ever see on screen, and denies the audience the sympathy that one would expect to follow such a violent and reprehensible opening act.

And this is where some people will love the movie, and others will hate it. It's also clear to see that this is why this film couldn't get made in Hollywood, and part of the reason why I'm attracted to it. Because it's dares to be different. And so few films do these days. Verhoeven uses this darkly complex, psychologically nuanced, black magnet of a movie, to push the audience’s buttons like a two year old with a television remote. Huppert's Oscar nomination is well deserved as she gives the lead performance of her career, and indeed, of anybody else’s. So, if you're looking for something French, morally ambiguous, and surprisingly humorous, then this is the film for you. If, however, you like your moral ground to be of the higher variety then it might pay to give it a swerve lest you end up offended, because this is film-making-as-art. And whilst art is supposed to make you think, it makes no promises that you'll like it.