SPOILERS !!!
About a year ago, I watched another movie about a initially harmless girl turning homicidal – Amanda Seyfried in Atom Egoyan's "Chloe". "Love Crime" shares some similarities, but there are a lot of differences. For one thing, it's in French.
Many critics fault this movie for the almost idiotic simplicity in depicting corporate warfare, in the relationship between a rising protégé (Ludivine Sagnier as Isabelle or "Isa") and an appreciative mentor (Kristin Scott Thomas as Christine) turning sour. I think they are missing the point. The movie makers did not want to waste time or energy on the background, but focused on the two protagonists. The story might have just easily taken place as academic rivalry in a university campus, for instance.
The criticism that the multi-front rivalry (work and lover) and public humiliation (a coup disguised as harmless sense of humour) should not be enough to provoke murder holds more water. Not even the desire to remove an obstacle on getting ahead is sufficient motivation. If real life is like this, corporate head-hunters will be having a field day searching for executive replacements. But again, I proffer the same argument: the movie makers just want to bring about a murder, illogical as the cause may be.
So what's the point? This is not whodunit suspense. The narrative style is one of omniscient point of view. As an audience, you are along with the perpetrator for a ride all the time. The fun is in seeing (and sometimes guessing) how she uses the "self-framing" trick (think "The wrong man" but in that movie the audience is in the dark and are in for a big surprise, unless they are really smart) to get away with murder, literally. And there is even more fun is in her reverse-framing gambit to get even with the spineless lover. But there is one final, albeit very small twist: you may be smart, but there is always someone else watching.
The two stars get equal billing, at least in the posters but Thomas is really just a support with a big part. She is killed just a little past the mid point of the movie, which brings me back to my summary line. If you have watched Sagnier in Francois Ozon's "Swimming Pool" (2003) acting opposite Charlotte Rampling, you'll remember how good she was in portraying these psychological duels and in holding her own against a calibre actor.
About a year ago, I watched another movie about a initially harmless girl turning homicidal – Amanda Seyfried in Atom Egoyan's "Chloe". "Love Crime" shares some similarities, but there are a lot of differences. For one thing, it's in French.
Many critics fault this movie for the almost idiotic simplicity in depicting corporate warfare, in the relationship between a rising protégé (Ludivine Sagnier as Isabelle or "Isa") and an appreciative mentor (Kristin Scott Thomas as Christine) turning sour. I think they are missing the point. The movie makers did not want to waste time or energy on the background, but focused on the two protagonists. The story might have just easily taken place as academic rivalry in a university campus, for instance.
The criticism that the multi-front rivalry (work and lover) and public humiliation (a coup disguised as harmless sense of humour) should not be enough to provoke murder holds more water. Not even the desire to remove an obstacle on getting ahead is sufficient motivation. If real life is like this, corporate head-hunters will be having a field day searching for executive replacements. But again, I proffer the same argument: the movie makers just want to bring about a murder, illogical as the cause may be.
So what's the point? This is not whodunit suspense. The narrative style is one of omniscient point of view. As an audience, you are along with the perpetrator for a ride all the time. The fun is in seeing (and sometimes guessing) how she uses the "self-framing" trick (think "The wrong man" but in that movie the audience is in the dark and are in for a big surprise, unless they are really smart) to get away with murder, literally. And there is even more fun is in her reverse-framing gambit to get even with the spineless lover. But there is one final, albeit very small twist: you may be smart, but there is always someone else watching.
The two stars get equal billing, at least in the posters but Thomas is really just a support with a big part. She is killed just a little past the mid point of the movie, which brings me back to my summary line. If you have watched Sagnier in Francois Ozon's "Swimming Pool" (2003) acting opposite Charlotte Rampling, you'll remember how good she was in portraying these psychological duels and in holding her own against a calibre actor.