Femme Fatale (2002 film)

Femme Fatale is a 2002 erotic thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars Antonio Banderas and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. It was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

Femme Fatale
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBrian De Palma
Produced by
Written byBrian De Palma
Starring
Music byRyuichi Sakamoto
CinematographyThierry Arbogast
Edited byBill Pankow
Production
companies
  • Quinta Communications
  • Epsilon Motion Pictures
Distributed by
Release date
  • 30 April 2002 (2002-04-30) (France)
  • 6 November 2002 (2002-11-06) (United States)
  • 27 March 2003 (2003-03-27) (Germany)
Running time
110 minutes
Country
Language
  • English
  • French
Budget$35 million
Box office$16.8 million

The film was a box office disappointment, but has subsequently become a cult film.[3][4][5] Warner Bros. has included the film in the catalogue of Warner Archive Collection.[6]

Plot

Mercenary thief Laure Ash is part of a team executing a diamond heist at the Cannes Film Festival. The diamonds are located on a gold ensemble worn by model Veronica, who is accompanying real-life director Régis Wargnier to the premiere of his film East/West. Laure seduces Veronica in order to obtain the diamonds, during which her accomplices "Black Tie" and Racine provide support. However, the heist is botched and Laure ends up double-crossing her accomplices and escaping to Paris with the diamonds. In Paris, a series of events causes Laure to be mistaken for a missing Parisian woman named Lily who had recently disappeared. While Laure luxuriates in a tub in Lily's home, the real Lily returns and commits suicide while Laure secretly watches, providing Laure the opportunity to take her identity for good, and she leaves the country for the United States.

Seven years later, Laure (in her identity as "Lily") resurfaces in Paris as the wife of Bruce Watts, the new American ambassador to France. After arriving in France, a Spanish paparazzo named Nicolas Bardo takes her picture. The picture is displayed around Paris, and Black Tie (who has coincidentally been released from prison seven years after being arrested for the heist) spots Bardo's photo while in the middle of killing a woman, seen talking earlier with Laure at a café, by throwing her into the path of a speeding truck. With Laure exposed to her vengeful ex-accomplices, she decides to frame Bardo for her own (staged) kidnapping. Bardo is further manipulated by Laure into following through with the "kidnapping", and in the process, they begin a sexual relationship. The pair eventually meet with Bruce for a ransom exchange; however, Bardo has a crisis of conscience at the last moment and sabotages the scheme. In retaliation, Laure executes both Bruce and Bardo, only to be surprised by her ex-accomplices afterwards who promptly throw her off a bridge to her seeming death.

In an extended twist ending, the entirety of the film's events after Laure enters the tub in Lily's home are revealed to be a dream. Laure spies Lily entering the home as before, but this time stops her from committing suicide. Seven years later, Laure and Veronica, who is revealed to have been Laure's partner all along, chat about the success of their diamond caper. Black Tie and Racine arrive seeking revenge, but they are indirectly killed by the same truck that killed Veronica in Laure's dream. Bardo, witnessing all these events, introduces himself to Laure, swearing that he has met her before, with Laure replying "Only in my dreams."

Cast

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews; however, it was praised by several high-profile critics, notably Roger Ebert, who gave it a 4 star review and called it one of De Palma's best films.[7] The film has since developed a cult status amongst cinephiles.[3][4][5] Femme Fatale currently holds a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 136 reviews.

At the 2002 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film received nominations for Worst Director (De Palma) and Worst Actress (Romijn-Stamos, also for Rollerball). Romijn-Stamos ended up winning Worst Female Fake Accent for this film and Rollerball.[8]

Box office

The film was a box office bomb, taking in less than its production costs worldwide.

In the North America, the film played very well in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto and Chicago, but also played weakly in the mid-section of the country.[9]

US domestic grossUS$6,630,252
International gross$10,208,658
Worldwide gross$16,838,910

The film generated more than $19.66 million in home video rentals in the United States (significantly higher than the film's United States box office gross).[10]

References
  1. Deming, Mark. "Femme Fatale (2002) – Brian De Palma". AllMovie. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  2. "Festival de Cannes: Femme Fatale". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  3. https://www.rogerebert.com/features/brian-de-palma-on-passion-passion-and-film
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20171122190745/http://americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/body-double-femme-fatale
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20160629111354/http://www.movingimage.us/visit/calendar/2012/12/07/detail/femme-fatale
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.wbshop.com/products/femme-fatale-2002
  7. "Femme Fatale :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. 6 November 2002. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  8. "Past Winners Database". The Envelope at L.A. Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20151017071354/http://www.hollywood.com/movies/box-office-analysis-nov-10-57233139/
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 December 2003. Retrieved 9 December 2003.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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