Femme Fatale (2002)

A woman tries to straighten out her life, even as her past as a con-woman comes back to haunt her.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writer:

Brian De Palma

Stars:

Rebecca Romijn, Antonio Banderas, Peter Coyote

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rebecca Romijn	...	Laure / Lily (as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos)
Antonio Banderas	...	Nicolas Bardo
Peter Coyote	...	Watts
Eriq Ebouaney	...	Black Tie
Edouard Montoute	...	Racine
Rie Rasmussen	...	Veronica
Thierry Frémont	...	Serra (as Thierry Fremont)
Gregg Henry	...	Shiff
Fiona Curzon	...	Stanfield Phillips
Daniel Milgram	...	Pierre / Bartender
Jean-Marc Minéo	...	Seated Guard (as Jean-Marc Mineo)
Jean Chatel	...	Cannes Commentator
Stéphane Petit	...	Bodyguard One (as Stephane Petit)
Olivier Follet	...	Bodyguard Two
Éva Darlan	...	Irma (as Eva Darlan)

Storyline

The thief Laurie Ash steals the expensive diamond jewel called 'Eye of the Serpent' in an audacious heist during an exhibition in Cannes 2001 Festival. She double-crosses her partners and is mistakenly taken as Lily, a woman who lost her husband and son in an accident and is missing since then, by an ordinary family. One day, while having bath in Lily's bathtub, Lily comes back home and commits suicide. Laurie assumes definitely Lily's identity, goes to America where she marries a rich man, who becomes the Ambassador of USA in France. When Laurie returns to France, her past haunts her.

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Plot Keywords:

full frontal female nudity | breast play | lesbian sex from behind | female protagonist | sex on a pool table | 

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Taglines:

Nothing is more desirable or more deadly than a woman with a secret

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality, violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Melanie Griffith convinced husband Antonio Banderas to take the role of Nicolas Bardo, even though it wasn't the lead. She did it as a favour to Brian De Palma, who had given her her big break in films decades before with, respectively, Body Double (1984) and The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990).

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Goofs

When Black Tie and his partner are running onto the bridge near the end, their shadows are visible. Next to them a third shadow is visible - the Steadicam operator.

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Quotes

Laure Ash: You didn't think I'd give you a gun loaded with real bullets did you?

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Connections

Featured in Femme Fatale: From Dream to Reality (2003)

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Soundtracks

Altar
(2001)
Written and Performed by Elli Medeiros
Arranged by Joseph Racaille
© and published by Katabami 2001

User Reviews

pure movie-making

Brian De Palma's 'Femme Fatale' is pure movie-making. In fact, it is done so well you almost forget it is all close to nonsense. But who cares, 'Femme Fatale' is an exercise in style drenched in twists and turns. Instead of cheating De Palma gives us a lot of little hints, easily missed the first time you see it. Explaining the story could ruin a lot and is probably useless anyway.

I can tell the film opens with a heist, probably one of the most erotic ones out there. Laure Ash (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) is the one who goes away with a very expensive artifact betraying a whole lot of people. This event is what drives her the rest of the movie, but in what way I can not reveal. I can say that we move forward to seven years later and that Laure has changed her identity, more by mistake than on purpose. Another important thing I can tell you is that we meet a photographer named Nicolas Bardo (Antonio Banderas). He takes a picture of Laure while she is still Laure and he is the one who takes a picture of her seven years later, a photo that could spoil everything for her.

I should stop talking about the story. You have to see it for yourself, collecting clues and try to make something out of it. I love a movie like this. 'Memento', 'Mulholland Dr.' and 'Donnie Darko' are other examples. Maybe you can figure them out, if that is the filmmakers intention, maybe you can not. But it is not so much the conclusion I enjoy, it is the ride that brings us there. De Palma does it in a terrific way with a lot of love for the movies.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros.

Country:

France Switzerland

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

6 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Femme Fatale

Filming Locations:

11 Rue d'Eupatoria, Paris 20, Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,776,248, 10 November 2002

Gross USA:

$6,630,252

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,838,910

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quinta Communications, Epsilon Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1