Elle
Short description
Michèle runs a successful video game company in Paris, where she applies the same iron grip to her business dealings and her private life. She is divorced, her son has his own life, and she keeps an undemanding affair with a friend's husband. When a masked intruder breaks into her home, assaults and rapes her, she does not go to the police. Instead she returns to her routine and begins hunting the man herself, seeing a possible suspect in the men around her, while a strange game develops between hunter and prey.
Paul Verhoeven directed the film, the fifteenth of sixteen features in his filmography, following Tricked and preceding Benedetta. David Birke wrote the screenplay, and Saïd Ben Saïd and Michel Merkt produced. Isabelle Huppert plays Michèle, with Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira and Judith Magre among the cast.
The production, a German, Belgian and French co-production, had a budget of about 10 million dollars and took roughly 2 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb the film holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 74,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.6 out of 10 from over 2,000 votes. A critics' rating of 8 out of 10 from 245 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Initially, the film was going to be shot in the United States, but Paul Verhoeven encountered difficulties finding an actress for the lead role. Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Julianne Moore, and Diane Lane all declined the offer to star in the film. For some time, Verhoeven considered Marion Cotillard or Carice van Houten for the lead role. As the director himself recounted, almost all the actresses refused immediately after reading the script, without even waiting a few days, as is usually done. Unable to find an actress in Hollywood, Verhoeven decided to move the film's production to France. He later said that actress Isabelle Huppert read Philippe Djian's novel, on which the film was to be based, and then called the scriptwriter and producer of the future film, saying she wanted to play the lead. According to Verhoeven, he felt that of all the American actresses, only Jennifer Jason Leigh had the courage to agree to star in the lead role in 'Elle'.
- Paul Verhoeven's first film in French.
- Filming began in January 2015 and took 3 months.
- The main character works at the French studio Cyanide and is working on a real existing game, Styx: Master of Shadows.
- The film was originally intended to be shot in the United States, but Paul Verhoeven encountered difficulties finding an actress for the lead role. Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Julianne Moore, and Diane Lane all declined offers to star in the film. For some time, Verhoeven wanted to cast Marion Cotillard or Carice van Houten in the lead role. As the director himself said, almost all actresses refused immediately after reading the script. Unable to find an actress in Hollywood, Verhoeven decided to move the film's production to France. As he himself said, Isabelle Huppert read the novel and called the screenwriter and the future film's producer herself, saying she wanted to play the part. According to Verhoeven, he felt that of all the American actresses, only Jennifer Jason Leigh would have had the courage to agree to star in the lead role.
- Before starting filming, Paul Verhoeven took an intensive French language course to facilitate communication with the crew and actors, because French films are traditionally made with French crews only.
- Paul Verhoeven planned to film a cinematic version of the popular Dutch series "The Secret Force" (1974), but financial problems and difficulties organizing filming in exotic corners of the world forced him to abandon this project and focus on the film "She."
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