Femme Fatale (2002) ****

I can’t believe it took me nearly 20 years to see Femme Fatale. What a pure De Palma picture, pure cinema. It’s always exciting to watch a new-to-you film by a director you love. Will I love it? WilI I hate it? Will it be meh? Will I agree with the general consensus? Does that even matter?

There is so much delight in the setup of this film. The 20-minute cold open is an absolute banger, the type of sequence that requires immaculate planning to pull it off as impressively as the cast and crew do. FF cheekily begins with a half-nude Rebecca Romijn-Stamos watching Double Indemnity (1944). From there we bear witness to a beautifully choreographed and edited diamond heist that takes place at a fictional version of the 2001 Cannes Film Festival (ironic because this film was screened out of competition at the actual 2002 festival).

FF is incredibly engrossing and it rarely lets up. The labyrinthine, dream-like Hitchcockian plot involves mistaken identity, double crosses, and questionable reality with numerous visual references to water and photography. Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast (Léon: The Professional (1994), review) wonderfully captures the images via De Palma's trademark technical devices (slow motion, split diopter, split screen).

The playful, delicate Ryuichi Sakamoto score brings to mind both Bernard Herrmann and Basil Poledouris.

With Femme Fatale De Palma proves that he is the king of sexy (sometimes sleazy) noir, manipulating and seducing the audience just as Romijn does in her totally fearless performance. I did not expect to love this film so much nor did I expect it to enter my Top 10 De Palma films. It's the type of movie that demands multiple viewings because it's so chock full of clues and easter eggs. Truly a treat.

Recommended for fans of Vertigo (1958), Blow-Up (1966), Mulholland Drive (2001) (review), Blow Out (1981), and Body Double (1984) (podcast where I discussed the latter two films here).

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