Elle (2016)

Paul Verhoeven's films' reputation proceeds them. Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and (yes, even) Showgirls, hold a certain fascination to many but his unsubtle, often insensitively gauche style left me more bored than "shocked." His idea of envelop pushing is usually less about exploring dark, complicated characters, and more about showing body parts. Therefore his newest film, which is everything a Verhoeven film should be but usually isn't, ends up being such a surprise.

Elle pushes the envelop in fascinating ways. I imagine it will be polarizing based on how unflinchingly it embraces its central character who refuses to be morally pure. It is like all those times Verhoeven crafted insultingly simplistic portraits of vengeful women, he was learning how complex and rich a female lead could actually be. He has manifested that in Elle, a shockingly intricate study of a woman who will neither be victim or hero.

As played by the exquisitely pitch perfect Isabelle Huppert, Michele is nothing binary. She is neither good nor evil, victim nor perpetrator, sympathetic nor reviled. Elle is 4 dimensional and I was never sure what she was going to do next. Huppert is up for the task of such a rich character, bringing her to unflinching life.

Elle wrestles with sexual assault and the ways it is destructive and often beyond the reach of justice. Verhoeven chooses not only to witness it (no surprise that he does not leave the attack off camera), but to relive it, experiencing different iterations of the violence. But this is where he convinced me of what he was doing. It was never exploitative, never eroticized. It was explicit yes but always clearly violent and not sexual. He captures the idea that rape is not about sex but about power. His transactions are clearly a battle. And Michele's choices are never the cliches of how victims react. She forges her own path, one with questionable motives. Elle has us struggle with what she does. She is not hero. She is not villain. She is a woman pursuing her path as she sees fit. For the man who crafted the problematic Catherine Tramell to produce such a richly drawn character as Michele, is a remarkable thing.

Elle is not going to be for everyone. It is going to be difficult for many to watch in terms of its graphic nature and its exploration of morality. When I say "graphic" I am not using the world to compare this film to the level of violence and sexuality we are seeing in many (often less complicated) films. I am referring to the raw and calculated way the film (and Michele herself) go through the assault and through the aftermath. The film doesn't endorse her but it does ask us to go along with her which will make many uncomfortable. It is also very fascinating whether we are comfortable or not.

Elle
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writer: David Birke