Director Brian De Palma returns to familiar terrain with FEMME FATALE, a loopy, sexy thriller that plays like a "greatest hits" of the controversial director's tics, tricks, and obsessions. Here the story follows a beautiful seductress (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos) who betrays her cohorts during an elaborate diamond heist at the Cannes Film Festival, then disappears to America under the stolen identity of a dead French girl to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Seven years later she returns to Paris when her American husband (Peter Coyote) accepts a position as French ambassador. That's when Antonio Banderas, as a goofy photographer, enters the picture and becomes her lover and dupe in another elaborate scheme. Along the way there's steamy lesbianism, misogynistic violence, split-screens, double-crosses, time loops, VERTIGO-style stalking, a hot striptease, and plenty of dark comedy and sly homage to other films, all in the classic De Palma tradition. His fans should be thrilled, as this harkens back to the director's DRESSED TO KILL, BLOW OUT, and BODY DOUBLE days. Novices should prepare to throw credibility to the wind and just enjoy the stylistic bravado, the twists and turns, and the ravishing Stamos--who backs up her beauty with a captivating, enigmatic performance.
IN THEATRES: NOVEMBER 6, 2002
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
Additional Release Material:
Featurettes - 1. FROM DREAM TO REALITY
2. DREAM WITHIN A DREAM
3. FEMME FATALE: BEHIND THE SCENES
Bonus Footage - 1. Comparison Between FEMME FATALE and DRESSED TO KILL
Stars
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos: American model, actress, UGLY BETTY, X-MEN
Antonio Banderas: Spanish actor, THE MAMBO KINGS, SHREK 2, EVITA, FRIDA
Peter Coyote: American actor, BEHIND ENEMY LINES II: AXIS OF EVIL (2006)
Gregg Henry: Actor/"Raising Cain"
Rie Rasmussen: Actor, FEMME FATALE (2002)
Eriq Ebouaney: Actor, LUMUMBA (2000)
Director
Brian De Palma: American Director/Screenwriter, SCARFACE (1983)
Producer
Tarak Ben Ammar:
Marina Gefter: Co-Producer
Screenwriter
Brian De Palma: American Director/Screenwriter, SCARFACE (1983)
Composer
Ryuichi Sakamoto: composer, TABOO (1999)
Executive Producer
Mark Lombardo: Executive Producer, FEMME FATALE (2002)
Director of Photography
Thierry Arbogast: Director of Photography
Review 1:
"...De Palma is clearly indulging his taste for hot sex and Hitchcockian menace, and his playfulness is infectious....The film takes us on a wild ride..."
Source: Movieline's Hollywood Life
p.30-1 11/01/2002
Review 2:
"...De Palma -- a master of kinky, delirious visuals -- hooks you good..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.98 11/28/2002
Review 3:
"...Absorbing and tantalizing....De Palma keeps you chasing after the plot, and his frames are full of arresting, disorienting details..."
Source: New York Times
p.E1 11/06/2002
Review 4:
"...Exuberant, blissfully entertaining....There isn't a single wasted or empty shot in the film..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.C1 11/06/2002
Review 5:
"..De Palma should be applauded for his sheer daring....An audacious slice of pop-auterism..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.66 09/01/2003