Femme Fatale

Femme Fatale (2002)

Runtime: 114 minutes

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Starring: Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote, Eriq Ebouaney, Edouard Montoute

From: Warner Bros.

As sometimes occurs, messageboard discussion spurned this viewing. I’ve viewed quite a few Brian De Palma movies in my life, yet most of what he’s done in the 21st century has been a blind spot. Someone recently mentioned viewing 2019’s Domino and liking it more the general reception it received. He then read how De Palma had little control over the story or how the movie turned out--that did sour things a bit. That doesn’t make me want to view Domino but for awhile I’ve had Femme Fatale in my collection (nevermind how) so it was time.

The opening moments is Rebecca Romijn viewing Double Indemnity-a movie that’s a must for Noirvember if you want to participate and haven’t seen it yet; it’s one of the best noirs ever made-set the tone as she lives up to the term Femme Fatale. The first 20 minutes is a heist… at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. The particulars won’t be revealed except that it featured the great camera work and features both the split diopter shots and screens split in two that you expect from the director. This delighted me.

Also, much to my amusement, only afterwards did I realize that it featured a real-life French director (Regis Wargnier) and there was a screening of his film East/West. I haven’t witnessed any of his work; the implication that he brought Rie Rasmussen (a Danish model IRL) to the screening as a much-younger date who wore a barely-there top… hysterical. In any case, the Ryuichi Sakamoto score was a highlight throughout but was a key component in making the heist sequence work rather well.

After that sequence completed, some implausible moments happened, although I could say the same about classic genre examples from the past. The title character caused plenty of grief for both Antonio Banderas and Peter Coyote. It was trashy fun even if there is reason for some to complain about the extended making-out scene between Romijn and Rasmussen and it seemed like setpieces loosely connected together, as impressive as those setpieces could be. Then the long conclusion happened…

I was blindsided then after the movie, realized that it seemed like De Palma was inspired by another director (not Hitchcock; there is a LOT of homages to Alfred in Femme Fatale) and a certain European movie from the 90’s. You’re either on board for those decisions made or the film ends on a sour note. I was amused by what happened; in addition, there’s a bravura ending. The performance of Rebecca Romijn has been called into question. It may change if this ever gets a second viewing but the tone seemed blueprinted to be over the top; in that case she did succeed with that bold performance.

The movie’s flawed even with its long conclusion that recontextualized certain things and cleared up some baffling moments. The stylistic flourishes, the tawdry nature and the score made this worth the watch. I hope that Domino isn’t the last De Palma we ever get; it’d be nice for a master like him to get a better sendoff but given his age and other factors—regrettably, I fear it’s wishful thinking on my part.