A photographer takes a picture of a mysterious woman and finds himself caught in a dangerous web of deceit.
Brian De Palma, in the course of his 45+ year career has worked in many genres, but is primarily known for his thrillers. After a handful of independently produced films (including collaborations with a young Robert De Niro), he had a major success in 1976 with Carrie, the first in a long line of Stephen King adaptations. De Palma was now free to explore more of his pet ideas and obsessions, and while occasionally venturing into other areas (such as his iconic crime films Scarface, The Untouchables, and Carlito's Way), returned again and again to the creative well that yielded his most personal work: Blow Out, Body Double, Dressed To Kill, Raising Cain, etc.
Femme Fatale was made after back-to-back commercial and critical failures, and found De Palma appearing to synthesize all his past thrillers into one maddening puzzle game, with his first original screenplay in nearly 10 years. The film pays homage to the work of Alfred Hitchcock (who De Palma had previously referenced in many of his earlier films) as well as Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up, which De Palma had already loosely adapted with his 1981 film Blow Out.
De Palma took a major gamble in the casting of former model Rebecca Romijn, who had little screen experience and had never carried a film largely on her shoulders before, to say nothing of the emotional range demanded by the character. Paired with her is Antonio Banderas, and in smaller roles veteran actor Peter Coyote and De Palma mainstay Gregg Henry.
As is true with most De Palma works, Femme Fatale features bravura camerawork (including uses of slow-motion, extreme angles, split-screens) and intricate set pieces, as well as themes regarding voyeurism and reflexive nods to the acts of filmmaking and film-viewing.
Femme Fatale did very poorly at the box office and received mixed reviews, though many prominent critics believed it to be one of his most interesting and entertaining films.
Running time is approx. 1 hr., 45 min.
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