Some things change you forever. And your life becomes increasingly more defined by before and after.
Being raped for example.
But: is this particular rape one of them?
Of course the part after will often revolve around the extent to which justice prevails. The rapist must be caught. The rapist must be punished. Still what if you are able to inflict your own rendition of that? What if you go after the rapist yourself in order to exact a particularly satisfying payback?
At least that’s where you think this one is heading.
You’ve always been ruthless. But now you have the opportunity to take this to a whole other level. On the other hand, you are a convoluted personality living in a convoluted world where, among other things, irony abounds. For example, you own a company that manufactures video games that revolve around extremely graphic sex and violence.
The plot here is ever complex and…twisted. And in that respect it imitates the lives of those willing to sink down into the ever more perverse cracks and the crevices of the “human condition”. There is still right and wrong of course. But in a world that some really do construe as beyond good and evil, even a sexual assault becomes tangled up in the sort of decadent mores that will make some, well, flinch.
The whole thing is particularly surreal because she had been flagrantly flirting with the man for some time. Her reaction is…complex?
Postmodern love. Postmodern sex. Postmodern rape.
In France as it were.
IMDb
[b]The initial plan was to produce the movie in the United States, but there were problems finding a female lead. Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Julianne Moore and Diane Lane were offered the role, but they all passed on the opportunity. Marion Cotillard and Carice van Houten were also considered. According to Paul Verhoeven, most actresses immediately rejected the part as soon as they had read the script, instead of waiting for a few days, which is normal. One of the actresses said she felt uncomfortable because of things that had happened to her in the past, one didn’t give any reasons but just said, ‘certainly not’. Verhoeven relocated the shoot of Elle to France after being turned down by Hollywood actresses. Verhoeven revealed that Isabelle Huppert read the book, called up the writer and the producer and said she wanted to do the movie. When they were discussing it, she brought up Verhoeven’s name. Huppert chose Verhoeven, not the other way around. Verhoeven told The Guardian that the only American actor who would have been game, he thinks, is Jennifer Jason Leigh, “she would have had absolutely no problem, She’s extremely audacious. But she’s an artistic presence and we were looking for names”, he said.
Before the production began, Paul Verhoeven went to a Dutch language institute to learn French, in order to better communicate with the cast and crew. He said it was simply necessary, because according to tradition, making a French movie should be done with an all-French crew. He initially spoke English with them, but this didn’t work efficiently. Fortunately, Verhoeven had once been to a French school in his youth, so he picked up the language quickly.[/b]
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elle_(film
trailer: youtu.be/9A-fS3v09tY
Elle [2016]
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
[b]Vincent [pointing to the bruise on her face]: What’s that?
Michèle: I fell off my bike.
…
Kurt: The real problem is right there. The real problem is, your background in publishing and literature is completely inappropriate for evaluating playability.
Michele: Okay, maybe Anna and I should’ve founded a different sort of company. Maybe Kronos was only a hit thanks to your genius ideas. Maybe we’re just two bitches who got lucky. But the fact is, the boss here is me. And we’re 6 months behind. Our goal is simple, as you all know. When the player guts an orc, he needs to feel the blood on his hands. Thick, warm blood. If at all possible.
…
Michele reads a text on her phone: “You are very tight for a woman your age”
…
Michele [at a restaurant]: Richard, would you say I am tight for a woman my age?
…
Michele: I was looking for a way of simply and naturally tossing this out. but I can’t find one. So… Here goes. I was assaulted…at home. I guess I was raped.
Anna: Raped? Oh, my god. For real? When?
Michele: Thursday, at 3pm.
Anna: And you never said?
Michele: I don’t know what to say. What can I say? I feel stupid for bringing it up.
Richard: Are you insane?
Anna: Are you alright? You have to see a doctor.
Michele: Done that.
Richard: What did the cops say?
[Michele says nothing]
Richard: You didn’t report it?
Anna: Michele, you have to report it immediately.
Michele: What for?
Anna: What for!
Michele: It’s over. It doesn’t need talking about anymore. It’s not worth a debate. How about we order?
…
Michele reads a text on her phone: “I like the blouse you’re wearing. The cream color. My sperm won’t leave a stain”
…
Irene: You father is up before the judge next week.
Michele: They’ll never let him out. Thank god! The parole hearing is a charade. Like you telling me to come, when you know I’d rather gouge my eyes out.
Irene: How long will you hang on to hatred?
Michele: I’ll never see him again, in this world or any other. Anyway, there is no other.[/b]
Her father, the monster:
[b]Reporter [on TV]: Seen today, this quiet street in the suburbs of Nantes bears no trace of the atrocities that took place here 39 years ago. Few of today’s inhabitants know the name, Georges Leblanc. Or if they do, it’s a name associated with a horror story that they can hardly remember. An urban folktale from another time. And yet, in 1976, the eyes of France were trained on this street. A nation held its breath. In shock. Time has dulled the terror of that distant day in May. But for some the horror will never fade away. Nor will the unanswered questions. What drove Georges Leblanc, a practising Catholic, loving husband and father, to commit such monstrous and senseless acts? And what role exactly was played by his daughter, Michle? A ten-year-old child at the time. After years of trials and psychiatric evaluations, over 30 years after Georges Leblanc’s incarceration, sentenced to life, the questions remain, as banal yet chilling as ever. First and foremost…Why?
…
Michèle [to Richard]: The bimbos with big tits never worried me, but a woman who’s read: “The Second Sex” will chew you up…And spit you out.
…
Michele: Kevin? You shoot, right? I mean, real shooting.
Kevin: That’s right, I do.
Michele: You own guns?
Kevin: A couple.
Michele: Could you teach me?
…
Michele: Kevin, I also wanted to talk to you because I’ve got an unofficial assignment for you.
Kevin: A black op?
Michele: I want to know who created that animation. You know the one I mean? Hack into the home computers of the whole office. All the guys, at least.
Kevin: I want to help, but that’s a major violation.
Michele: I’m offering $10,000 cash in hand. Between you and me. Our secret.
Kevin: When you snoop on people, you turn up some weird shit.
Michele: I know. I won’t judge.
…
Michele: My father made the sign of the cross on me, before I left for school. He did it to all the local kids until some parents asked him to stop. Sounds reasonable. Apparently, my father was offended. That night. he made the rounds. Knocked on every door, went into every house on the street with a shotgun, a butcher’s mallet and a pair of kitchen knives.
Patrick: Yes, I heard about that.
Michele: You heard about the 27 human victims, not about the animals. They never get a mention. 6 dogs, a couple of cats, too. For whatever reason, he spared a hamster. You couldn’t make it up.
…
Michele [to Patrick]: My father decided to burn everything in the house. I helped feed the fire. We gutted the place. Curtains, carpets…Tables, chairs…All in the fire. It was exciting. You get caught up in it. We were about to burn our clothes when the police arrived. Someone snapped a photo. Bizarrely, it’s that photo that stuck in people’s minds. Me, half-naked, smeared with ash. The photo of a little girl as psychopath, next to her father, the psychopath. My empty stare in the photo is terrifying.
…
Robert: Say you don’t want me anymore and we’re done.
Michele: It’s not that simple. But if you like…I don’t want this anymore, this situation, the lies.
Robert: You dodged my question.
Michele: Sorry. I don’t want to fuck you anymore. Was that the question?
…
Michele: Take out your dick.
Kevin: Pardon me?
Michele: Show me your dick and I might not fire you.
[Kevin lowers his pants]
Michelle: I thought you were Jewish
Kevin: Well, no.
Michele: Put it back in The man I’m looking for is circumcised.
…
Warden: Can we talk in my office if you don’t mind? This way…
Michele: I’m here to spit in my father’s face. I can’t guarantee it’s a metaphor. People have all kinds of reasons. I came because I gave the bastard too much power over me. My whole life fleeing him, fearing him. What a waste!
Warden: Ms. Leblanc…Your father is dead.
…
Michèle [leaning over and whispering to her father…now a corpse]: I killed you by coming here.[/b]
Cue the deer.
[b]Michele: So, how was it?
[Patrick says nothing]
Michele: Was it good? How was it?
[Patrick says nothing]
Micvhele: Answer me. Did you enjoy it? Why did you do it?
Patrick: It was necessary.
…
Ralf: I saw that your father passed away. One less bastard in the world.
Michele: You should start packing your bags.
Ralf: I saw all the shows on TV about you and your dad. When you murdered all those people. I saw all the corpses, all the dead children. The bastard’s dead now, and at least I fucked his wife.
…
Robert [after having sex with Michele]: You were fabulous. Where’d you get the idea of playing dead?
…
Michele: Do it.
Patrick: It doesn’t work like that. Not for me. It has to be like before.
…
Anna [to Michele]: Robert’s fucking someone.
…
Michèle [to Anna] : Shame isn’t a strong enough emotion to stop us from doing anything at all. Believe me.
…
Michele: It’s me.
Anna: What’s you?
Michele: It’s me, sleeping with Robert. It’s over now, but it was me.
Anna: How long?
Michele: 6-8 months.
Anna: I didn’t have a clue.
Michele: I know.
Anna walks away distraught, Robert walks over to Michele]
Robert: What did you do?
M ichele: I stopped lying.
…
Michèle: It’s twisted.
Patrick: What?
Michele: Twisted. Between us, it’s sick. Diseased. It’s perverse. I was in some kind of weird denial but now it’s all very clear.
Patrick: What’s clear?
Michèle: You expect to get away with what you’ve done to me? I’m gonna do what I should have done right from the beginning.
Patrick: What do you mean?
Michèle: It’s not just about me. There’s your wife too. Others, maybe. Who knows.
Patrick: What do you mean?
Michèle: How many others? How many women did you rape?
[Patrick is silent]
Michèle: I’m going to the police. I’ll tell everything.
…
Michele: How’s Robert?
Anna: I kicked him out. Ever since, he’s hit the bottle. What did you see in him?
Michele: It was just one of those things. An opportunity. I wanted to get laid.
Anna: That’s no excuse. It was shabby.
Michele: Worse than that even. [/b]