Elle is a 2016 internationally co-produced psychological thriller directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by David Birke, based on the novel Oh… by Philippe Djian. Djian’s novel was released in 2012 and received the Prix Interallié (National Literary Award). The film stars Isabelle Huppert and tells the story of a businesswoman, Michèle Leblanc, who is raped in her home by an unknown assailant and stalks him back.
“Elle” opens with Michele’s brutal rape, and unfolds to chronicle the unexpected ways she deals with it, putting the screws on both her audience and her perpetrator. Despite that plot, however, the film is also very funny, thematically layered and often shocking, and it’s packed with twisty (and twisted) movements and a surprisingly original tone, both of which gleefully and frequently buck the traditional concept of what a “rape-revenge film” can (or “should”) be.
And, yes, it’s very funny. But can a film that’s rooted in a violent crime still be light-hearted and, dare I say it, fun? Did you laugh at “Elle”? Is it wrong to?
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Paul Verhoeven is best known in Hollywood for directing the films RoboCop , Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers.
Verhoeven went on to state he relocated the shoot of Elle to France after being turned down by several Hollywood-based actors who believed the role to be too controversial.
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