Alright Alain Corneau’s film may not be his best but I simply LOVE this movie as please tell me how many times do we have the opportunity to see Kristin Scott-Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier performing together? You have no idea how much I enjoyed watching them together in a loose pas de deux that starts with seduction, continues with deception/humiliation and ends with a love crime, like the movie title says. Fantastic! And I’m just talking about a bit more than half the movie.Second part was somehow predictable but the delicious twist at the finale was superb. Say somehow predictable as there were a few unexpected twists that kept my attention, not that I needed the twists as watching Ludivine in the screen doing all sort of crazy things was more than enough for me.
But what’s film all about? Set in the business environment at what seems like a large American multinational company with head offices in New York and a branch office in Paris this labyrinth (as Corneau calls it) story tells about Paris branch office top manager Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her second in command Isabelle (Ludivine Sagnier) that work tightly together (the seduction part) to great success for Christine; the problem is that the creator of the idea is Isabelle and gets no credit as Christine “steals” (deception part) her idea and takes it as her own claiming that’s teamwork. From then on you can imagine the next story stage, Isabelle confronts Christine who declares war with Isabelle getting humiliated. Next comes the perfect love crime and you have to watch movie to see how this business women story unravels.
Oh yes, loved the first part of the story and I’m sure that any woman with a top business position at a multinational company anywhere in the world will absolutely enjoy what happens in the movie as some aspects are so true that becomes quite comical, in a very dark way. The second part of the story is more French not only because performances but also because the story twists and twists resolutions, but I equally enjoy it. Before the love crime is committed, film has a great business women story that I’m sure many business women will enjoy, as there are not many films that have business women as leads and being the center of the story.
Performances by Scott Thomas and Sagnier are extraordinary and you will never notice that Sagnier had a difficult time understanding her character as she finds working at an office a very exotic thing (lol!), according to what she says in an interview.
Obviously liked the film a lot because performances and story, but this is not great French cinema this is more mainstream entertaining cinema that I think could please more women than men if you don’t take too seriously what happens in the screen.
Ambition at any price is the theme of this riveting psychological thriller, in which Ludivigne Sagnier and Kristin Scott Thomas go head-to-head in a study in tension. What sucks us in is the disarming ease with which director Alain Corneau (his last film, co-written with Nathalie Carter) weaves his scenario about power plays in the workplace, sexual politics, manipulation and revenge. The plot surprises, too; the dynamic caused by its sudden change in direction adds to the mix. But it is the sublime performances of Sagnier and Scott Thomas that elevate the film.
Reminiscent at times of The Devil Wears Prada and Working Girl, Christine (Scott Thomas) seemingly takes Isabelle (Sagnier) under her wing, as if grooming her but Christine is always thinking about herself. There are more complications in the workplace when Isabelle and Philippe (Mille) have an affair. Daniel (Marquet) appears to be an ally, encouraging Isabelle to claim credit for her own work.
Sagnier makes full use of her onscreen vulnerability, while Scott Thomas is chilling as the tough businesswoman prepared to use all her wiles to get her way. Just when tensions reach boiling point, the film takes the form of a whodunit, except the audience knows who is the perpetrator. Pay attention to the clues; there's a call to the doctor, pills, a knife, a garden shed, scratches and a scarf with a rip.
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There's a little dip during the prison sequences when our credibility is tested but I like the use of black and white as key scenes are recreated to portray what really happened. The film's final scenes are nicely conceived, allowing the story to end as provocatively as it begins.
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