Mark Kermode reviews Elle

Mark Kermode reviews Elle. A successful and ruthless business woman seeks revenge on the unknown man who attacked her in her own home, turning into a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Please tell us what you think of the film -- or Mark’s review of the film - below. We love to include your views on the show every Friday.
www.bbc.co.uk/5...
Fridays at 2pm on BBC 5 live.

[@csjcsj2906]

If Huppert won the Oscar, the best picture announcement would have been completely different.

[@SilentLulamoon]

So Jin Choi Emma Stone gave such a powerful performance she won Best Picture

[@dirty06maggot]

stone was good but not worthy of an oscar.

[@65g4]

@@dirty06maggot i disagree

[@spaceodds3174]

"She (Huppert) not bad in anything!" I do agree, but does Mark remember Heaven's Gate (a film he just hates) Elle is a controversial, grotesque film that is filled with irony and sardonic humour. This is either a hideous satire on the so called prestigious French family dramas that take over film festivals, or a provocative version of Terms of Endearment. Huppert is phenomenal and stunning.

[@maxilopez1596]

This is the best film I've seen in ages

[@taliaprice1909]

This was an awesome movie. Isabelle was robbed of the Oscar.

[@Biring1]

Probably one of the worst snubs since Ralph Fiennes lost to Tommy Lee..

[@MrNoremac98]

I understand why though, it's harder for most people to grasp the power of a performance in a foreign language with subtitles.

[@johnPaul-qn3dg]

Noremac98 Agreed and it was such a shame, an outstanding performance in an outstanding film

[@charliepanayiotou4305]

The thing is I love Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive. Liam Neeson losing to Tom Hanks was far worse.

[@spaceodds3174]

Could not agree more. A phenomenal performance in a brilliant film.

[@annaandtonia4042]

I like Paul Verhoeven. I've grown up with his films (Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers) And there are always, always! scenes in his films which have stuck in my mind. Sounds like hes still making them like this. I will have to haunt this film down I think.

[@KonradUberstorff]

and Paul Verhoeven who made Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers. I think Mark is trying to deflect from the difficult subjekt matter by just praising Huppert.

[@davidfgranger]

He seems to spend an awful lot of his review time gushing over the lead actresses these days.

[@user-rx4sq5ds3j]

BurgusLasVegas Verhoeven deserves loads of credit here, the performances are great across the board.

[@SilentLulamoon]

Isabelle Huppert is a goddess

[@sleepyazathoth5238]

Isabelle should have won the Oscar but it didn't because like Jimmy Kimmel said, nobody saw Elle.

[@natalia_92837]

I hate americans

[@johnPaul-qn3dg]

See this in the Cinema, every piece of her acts, this is the best film I seen in a long time.

[@kingchamed]

Film made me uncomfortable which means it did its job. Love the inter-linking sub stories

[@TomRipley7350]

I don't know how to feel about this film but agree about IH. Always mesmerising.

[@alsie1882]

I loved it. She’s fearless.

[@user-rx4sq5ds3j]

I really do think more enterprising directors will go abroad and Hollywood will suffer as a result. This and Toni Erdmann are just so good.

[@vins1979]

This movie felt like they found two or three unfinished scripts written by Claude Chabrol, they stitched them together, but then they finished the ideas, the time and the money, so they just put an end to the whole thing. Isabelle Huppert is the greatest actress alive, no doubt about that, but this performance does not add anything to her long and splendid career. Especially if one if familiar with her filmography, this movie will be rather forgettable. However, if one does not know her as an actress, this could be a nice starting point to delve into her magnetic talent. As much as I did not particularly appreciate this movie, I still think Isabelle Huppert deserved the Oscar. It was a good (and sad chance) to honour an actress who has been on screen and on stage since the Seventies and who has worked with some of the best: Chabol, Haneke, Marco Bellocchio, the Taviani's Brothers, François Ozon, Jean Luc Godard, André Techiné... Really, she is the queen of cinema. Instead, they decided to award a 28 years old actress who, instead of acting, made big eyes and big smiles and strange facial expressions for 2-hours.

[@omg9261]

Loved your comment ❤ such a nice love-letter to Huppert and such a good summing up of how Stone got her oscar. (I have nothing agaisnt Stone, I just think that role wasn't worth the oscar especially when there's Huppert the same year).

[@65g4]

Isabelle Huppert was amazing in this

[@binaryg]

If the film sets out to bamboozle and to confuse the audience it succeeded with me. I was looking forward to seeing it and when it was over I felt lost. It may be worth a second watch I'll have to see. I'm not someone who must be spoon fed the plot progressions. I am up for a challenge and appreciate ambiguity. I'll just have to try to watch and if I get as lost as I did this time I'll most likely stop.

[@jonny5779]

Bamboozle is the key word in this review...and Mark is right btw

[@sepiarain]

This really blew me away. Spiritual twin to the piano teacher in some ways. My head is spinning but it was completely riveting. Mayo being wriggly around the term Post-feminism, possibly think in terms of Amazonian feminism or the type or raw power Camille Paglia describes and prescribes, which is irrefutably awesome.

[@olivermcerlean8386]

It was the best revenge movie since Inglourious Basterds. SO bold to create such a horrible person - made horrible by horrible things happening to her - acting horribly and getting away with it. It was a great year in European film.

[@superliljohn91]

"liked" simply for the use of "bamboozle" by Kermode

[@KevTheImpaler]

What' does post-feminist heroine mean? That's a tricky one. I still don't know what postmodern means and I must have first heard the term forty years ago.

[@klaudikus]

Kate Winslet is the only other actress that could have pulled this off.

[@saxbend]

That's quite a bold statement to say that no other actress could carry off a performance like that. I enjoyed it a lot and I can understand why you're motivated to give it such high praise, but to take you literally on that would be doing a huge disservice to a lot of actresses out there.

[@russellscott1151]

but does he actually like the film ?

[@omg9261]

Totally gree about Verhooven being exploitation movie director. That's why I had doubts whether I should watch Elle at all. I loved the Piano teacher and I knew Elle would be another heavy movie with the brilliant Huppert, but thoughts about Verhooven were stopping me. Both Haneke and Verhooven reflect on violence, but Haneke always makes sure the viewer wont be able to enjoy it. And Verhooven's movies did have some exploitation vibe. (Basic instinkt and Showgirls for sure; Robocop I guess too, but since I watched in only as a teen I don't remember for sure). But I was pleasantly surprised. Even though Elle is controversial, it doesn't do exploitation. And it is a brilliant movie, I absolutely loved it.

[@maz12004]

"mansplaining"" is a 'word' I hoped I'd never hear Kermode say but it doesn't really surprise me that he said it. Hopefully he never utters it again.

[@MsCygnusX1]

I hated this movie. And I don't hate any film, in general. But this one was insufferable.

[@TheTachy0n]

Mansplaining is not a meaningful word. It's just a way to silence oppossition based on their gender. Kermode sure has gone off the deep end.

[@vins1979]

Because women are never ill-informed and never condescending to men, right? I remember a couple of girls in my undergraduate AND master seminar: they were absolutely ghastly, arrogant and aggressive. But of course man are always mansplaining, while women are only explaining. Please...

[@alexanderdahoola8188]

@@aikighost How long have men oppressed women throughout human history and why do statistically men do bad things including criminal offenses against women and other men and others etc even in this day and age?

[@fbcaware8805]

@@alexanderdahoola8188 Because you're a dumbass simp.

[@dalyap7491]

cue the incels!!!

[@Snagprophet]

It's really dumb and makes me question what his views on society and politics are. It's the sort of person who thinks its okay to be racist to whites and sexist towards men and believes in the concept of privilege outside of class and financial.

[@AlexDeLarge77]

Mark bottled it on the post feminism question. Shame on you.

[@noseefood1943]

grotesque movie.

[@andyg9835]

From the way the trailer had been edited I believed that ‘Elle’ was going to be a high-octane thriller, but sadly it was not. In fact, the thriller element of the movie never gets off the ground and is a damp squib. I’ve heard it billed as a black comedy, but if it is, then it’s a complete failure on that count too. The main theme of ‘Elle’ appears to be sexploitation, and I’ve heard it suggested that this is meant to be empowering of the female lead, but it really doesn’t. On top of that, none of the characters are even slightly likeable and some of the scenes are just in very poor taste. The only glimmer of light in the whole sorry charade is Isabelle Huppert, who just manages to keep her head above a pretty low water line. 2/5

[@drexle2002]

ridiculous movie, verhoeven at its worst

[@bluesjazznotes9436]

Just like Mark the film left me conflicted but I certainly enjoyed it because of Isabelle Huppert's performance maainly, I just feel that IH needs to stop stripping at some point and be more like Meryl Streep, this is not the kind of movie that I would recommend to someone but if asked I'll say I liked it a lot.

[@michelinebahini2771]

Perhaps it would be a good idea to be appreciative of an actress who extends a woman's sexuality to well beyond sixty years old. American actresses get butchered after they turn forty (Streep had to fight for the part of Bridges of Madison County because the studios thought she was too old to play with Clint (who is 25 years older)). Hollywood actresses might find something to learn from Huppert or from French feminism. I'd say Meryl should perhaps start stripping. Sexuality does not belittle content.

[@bluesjazznotes9436]

@@michelinebahini2771 To be clear I don't want to see any actress stripping, younger or older, even if it's Charlize who's now in her 40s I believe, I just want to see a good film with a good production and a great cast. Today's actresses have it very easy compared to what some of the older ones had to go through, back then they were expected to get naked at possibly every script that comes their way, if they don't they simply won't work until they're forgotten.

[@michelinebahini2771]

@@bluesjazznotes9436 She is not being forced to strip. She can do whatever she wants. This is a film she helped get made. She read the book, contacted a producer, etc... Getting naked is not getting abused, it's giving the character the erotic dimension it deserves, and it attributes seduction to her image. It's ok if we want to fantasize and dream about our favorite figures. This is what art is about. Look at the paintings and the masterpieces! And maintaining a sexualized figure at her age is miraculous, modern and brave. That's why she is called fearless. It's also part of her range to access deeper layer of her characters and her public. I call her an oneiric actress, but that may just be my idealization.

[@UlrichUlrich]

The Piano Teacher is superior to Elle in every way. I'll place Elle on my growing list of overrated movies as of late; Carol, Elle, Mad Max: Fury Road, Moonlight, Paterson, Arrival, Julieta, Sing Street, Wiener-dog, Green Room, The VVitch, Sicario etc...

[@UlrichUlrich]

Okay here are 12 underrated ones from off the top of my head: Partisan, Maniac (2012), The Rover, My Little Eye, Project X (2012), Micmacs, The Limits Of Control, U-Turn, Stoker, Hanna, Apocalypto, Saint Laurent (2015)