Hot Mess Celluloid- Elle (2016)

Michele Leblanc had a great day until she saw her cat outside.  She opened the door to get it and got raped.  However, no phone call was made to the police station and a warm bath eased the discomfort.  She was back to work at her video game company without missing a step.  Yet, the thoughts raced through her mind about the attacker.

Meanwhile, she was dealing with Irene, her aging mother, and Ralf, the gigolo.  Irene was informing her of Michele’s father being parole eligible.  Again, she didn’t care.  Now, Vincent, her son, was coming to ask for rent and inform her of his pregnant girlfriend.

All she wanted was resolution and sex?  How could she think about sex after such a violent attack?  The answer was Patrick.  He was married, young, and great looking. It fit what she needed.  Hell, one of out of three’s not bad but three out of three?  She might have to pursue him.

Would Elle find her attacker?  Would Vincent be responsible and take care of his expectant girlfriend?  Would her father be paroled?  Who In The Hell Thinks About Sex After Being Raped?!

Elle was masterfully directed by Paul Verhoeven.  He excelled with this erotic thriller based on Phillippe Dijan’s novel.  The film was erotic, disturbing, and wrought with dark humor.  Isabelle Huppert found darkness and light in a character that eclipsed Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell.  Elle makes her look timid in comparison.  She shown the feminine mystique a new glance while viewers questioned her intentions.

American viewers may or may not realize that Verhoeven as more than an action director.  Yet, the erotic thriller and suspense were his bread and butter years before Robocop and Total Recall.  This was foreign celluloid since Black Book.  The film was beautifully accented by Anne Dudley’s score.  She composed the film in such a way that Jerry Goldsmith would’ve been proud.

Huppert has been nominated for a 2017 Best Actress Oscar for this role.  It was well deserved for a layered performance.

Viewers will be left guessing until the final moments.  Then, they will question certain events that proceeded the present as well.

Verhoeven has given his fan base what they wanted:  An erotic thriller with more turns than a mountain road.

Catherine Tramell had a great run while it lasted.  Looks like you’ll be charged with smoking and be appointed into the custody of Elle.

 

Coming of Age Celluloid- The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

Nadine was smart, witty, and…awkward.  Damian, her younger brother, has muscles, looks, and friends.  She envied and hated him in the same breath. However, her father loved and understood her above everyone else.  Then, her world tumbled down with his death.

Several years later, the family (including his widow) struggled with this loss individually.  Damian focused on sports and being a social butterfly.  Mona, Nadine’s mom, had varying friends with benefits and battled with her daughter constantly.  Throughout, she has had another rock and her name was Krista.  She met Nadine in kindergarten and they’ve been inseparable every since.  Yet, this would change with one night of drinking around Damian.

Would Nadine ever become popular?  Would Krista ever wise up?  Will Mona ever realize the true pain that her daughter suffers?

The Edge of Seventeen was written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig.  Craig captured perfectly the awkwardness of puberty and adulthood in one film.  Hailee Steinfeld was beautiful as an old soul in capturing Nadine’s essence.  Kyra Sedgwick was brutal yet loving as Mona.  However, Woody Harrelson’s Mr. Bruner gave audiences some of the best verbal sparring in 2016.  He provided the much needed reality check for this teenager loner.

Craig has created something that no viewer would’ve ever conceived.  The film would’ve been a great project for Robert Altman and Nora Ephron to create.  Viewers can see the realism that Altman was known for and Ephron’s yearn to capture the female psychique.  They each wrote and directed films about women of all ages.  Yet, Altman and Ephron never conceived a teenage coming of age film.

Kelly Fremon Craig has done that.  She has found the right balance of bring baby boomers, generation X, generation Y, & millennials together without missing a beat. She has packed heart, humor, and sadness into one ball of teenage angst.  They (Robert & Nora) are smiling down upon this brilliant piece of celluloid.  It along with Moonlight & Arrival capture the essence of 2016 on film.

The Edge of Seventeen is my choice for Best Film of 2016.  We realize that being awkward never complete ends beyond puberty.  Yet, this film shows us that there is hope in embracing what makes us real.