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Blu-Ray : Recommended
Ranking:
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Release Date: March 14th, 2017 Movie Release Year: 2016

Elle

Overview -

Michèle seems indestructible. Head of a successful video game company, she brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. Being attacked in her home by an unknown assailant changes Michèle's life forever. When she resolutely tracks the man down, they are both drawn into a curious and thrilling game - a game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control.

OVERALL:
Recommended
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Region Free
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
131
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.40:1
Audio Formats:
English Audio Descriptive Service
Subtitles/Captions:
English, English SDH, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai
Special Features:
Theatrical Trailer
Release Date:
March 14th, 2017

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Once upon a time, Paul Verhoeven was the hottest director in Hollywood, helming such box office hits as RoboCop and Basic Instinct. But a couple of disappointments is all it takes for studios to turn their back on you these days, so Verhoeven took his talent back overseas (he was born and raised in the Netherlands and didn't start directing American movies until mid-career) where his style of sex, violence, and a good dose of humor seems to work best. Such is the case with Elle, a movie that would be dead serious if it was made in Hollywood by anyone else. Thankfully, it's French and helmed by Verhoeven – making it one of the more uniquely entertaining movies you're likely to come across.

French actress and Academy Award nominee Isabelle Huppert stars as Michèle, who we see getting raped by a masked man (dressed all in black) in the movie's opening moments. While this horrible event would be the cause of two hours of angst for a character in an American movie, Michèle treats her rape rather clinically, although that doesn't mean she doesn't become focused on both finding ways to protect herself and well as hoping to unmask the perpetrator – who begins a game of taunting her after the events take place.

Michèle works for a videogame company whose specialty is creating violent and sexually exploitive games, so she immediately begins to suspect that one of her employees (maybe a current one, perhaps a former one) is the man who raped her. Others in Michèle's circle of friends and acquaintances are also suspicious. I will confess to pinpointing who the person was as soon as his character is introduced in the movie, although I don't know if it will be that obvious to everyone who watches the film. However, the identity of the person is just the first "surprise" in the movie, as Michèle's response is far from expected and may even turn some viewers (especially females, I suspect) off. I will say that knowing who it is (or having a pretty good idea) didn't take away any of my enjoyment, which is a good indication that the film holds up to multiple viewings and is much more than a sophisticated "who done it".

The movie also has a great excuse why our lead character doesn't take her problems to the police; Michèle's father was responsible for some horrible crimes at which she was present (as a little girl). The crimes were horrendous enough that complete strangers will shout awful things at her, and one woman (early in the movie) actually throws a tray of food on her in a public restaurant. Michèle treats that moment so nonchalantly, that viewers will know it's happened to her many times before.

But for all the seriousness of the subject matter here, the real surprise of Elle (which, incidentally, isn't a nickname for the main character but rather the French word for "she") is what a wicked sense of humor is has. Not in the laugh-out-loud kind of way (although I certainly did so a few times), but in a dry, subversive way. There's a great subplot here involving Michèle's son (Jonas Bloquet) and the rather questionable girlfriend (Alice Isaaz) he's chosen for himself that goes places I don't think a Hollywood movie would dare (wait until you the scene where she gives birth!).

I realize a lot of you avoid foreign movies because you have no desire to sit and read subtitles for two hours – I sometimes feel the same, but I encourage you to give this movie a chance. If you've loved Verhoeven's work here in the States, you'll get that same feeling with Elle. I don't know that it's the director's best movie, but it's certainly in the conversation.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray

Elle arrives on Blu-ray in a standard Sony-type blue keepcase (the kind with the flap on the side you need to lift up to open the case) and contains no inserts. The 50GB Blu-ray is front-loaded with trailers for Equity, Julieta, Toni Erdmann, Maggie's Plan, and Our Little Sister. The main menu consists of a still image of actress Isabelle Huppert's character and the cat in the movie (the same image that graces the back of the keepcase's slick), with menu selections horizontally across the bottom of the screen.

The Blu-ray is region-free.

Video Review

Ranking:

Elle was shot digitally on Epic Red Dragon cameras and is presented on Blu-ray in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Sony Pictures Classics Blu-ray has always done a pretty good job with their transfers, so this one just must be the result of the source material and the director's/cinematographer's intent. While the image doesn't have any major defects (other than middling black levels that causes some noise to creep in), it is rather flat, lacking the sense of depth and "pop" one expects on Blu-ray.

The picture overall – including facial features – tends to lean on the warm side of things, but it's consistent throughout, so at least skin tones don't change with each sequence. So while this isn't the kind of transfer that will really "wow" viewers, it's a pleasant enough watch – just don't expect the razor-sharpness you'll find on other digitally shot movies.

Audio Review

Ranking:

Since Elle is a foreign film, the featured track here isn't an English one, but rather a French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. For a lossless track such as this one, I honestly was expecting a lot more. While the dialogue is certainly crisp (and all from the front channel), the rears have hardly any ambient noise use at all (there's some here and there, but it's mostly not noticable) – they're really only used to help amplify the musical soundtrack – and LFE use is pretty much nonexistent. This isn't a bad mix and there are certainly no problems in terms of technical glitches with the track, but it does come off as rather subdued overall.

No dubbed English track is provided, although the disc does have an English Audio Descriptive Service track. A 5.1 Hungarian Dolby Digital track is also available, as are subtitles in English, English SDH, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai.

Special Features

Ranking:

A Tale of Empowerment: Making Elle (HD 7:15) – A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie, with comments from Director Paul Verhoeven and star Isabelle Huppert.

Celebrating an Icon: AFI's Tribute to Isabelle Huppert (HD 36:39) – This is video on an on-stage interview with the actress moderated by The Hollywood Reporter's Executive Editor Stephen Galloway.

Theatrical Trailer (HD 2:09) – The original theatrical trailer for Elle.

Final Thoughts

Paul Verhoeven's Elle isn't afraid to tackle serious subjects like rape and violence and sexual desire in suprisingly witty, dry, and subversive ways. I've never been a huge follower/viewer of foreign films, but this one's going to stay with me for a while. Recommended.