It's almost as though "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was reimagined by David Lynch in French.
"Lemming" has an intriguing plot and intriguing stars.
Over the years I have noticed the French do about the best psychological mystery films, maybe even outdoing the Scandinavians who are also heavy-hitters in the category. Hitchcock may have agreed, "Vertigo" was from an original story by a couple of French writers and Hollywood has often borrowed from the Gallic inventory.
Alain Getty (Laurent Lucas) is an Automation Engineer who has developed a cool little domestic flying spyware device that Big Brother could have used back in "1984". He is married to Bénédicte (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and they have just moved into a quiet home in the burbs of Toulouse.
When Alain invites his boss Richard Pollock (André Dussollier) and wife Alice (Charlotte Rampling) home for dinner, things are awkward from the get-go, and then get progressively weirder. Alice can't control the vitriol she feels towards her husband and their domestic disunity is played out in front of the bewildered young couple. But what seems to have been a one-off embarrassing evening takes on another dimension when Alice won't leave Alain and Bénédicte alone.
Then the lemming turns up. We learn some interesting things about lemmings, which add tension when Bénédicte swims far out in a secluded lake.
I won't give away any more of the plot, suffice to say it's a long movie, over two hours, but I didn't want it to end, I was enjoying the twists so much.
Fascinating seeing the two Charlottes in the same film, unusual beauties with charisma to spare.
The whole thing is played low-key. Bénédicte is preternaturally calm. At one point, the in-your-face Alice, after constant probing, asks Bénédicte if she ever gets angry?
Films like this that play games with your head often paint themselves into a corner and have weak resolutions. Not so here, the ending is as enigmatic as the rest of the film.
"Lemming" has a score by David Whitaker. An English composer and arranger, he had worked with top recording artists including Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte's Dad. His subtle chords and use of the music of Johann Strauss help create the unexpected mood.
"Lemming" has an intriguing plot and intriguing stars.
Over the years I have noticed the French do about the best psychological mystery films, maybe even outdoing the Scandinavians who are also heavy-hitters in the category. Hitchcock may have agreed, "Vertigo" was from an original story by a couple of French writers and Hollywood has often borrowed from the Gallic inventory.
Alain Getty (Laurent Lucas) is an Automation Engineer who has developed a cool little domestic flying spyware device that Big Brother could have used back in "1984". He is married to Bénédicte (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and they have just moved into a quiet home in the burbs of Toulouse.
When Alain invites his boss Richard Pollock (André Dussollier) and wife Alice (Charlotte Rampling) home for dinner, things are awkward from the get-go, and then get progressively weirder. Alice can't control the vitriol she feels towards her husband and their domestic disunity is played out in front of the bewildered young couple. But what seems to have been a one-off embarrassing evening takes on another dimension when Alice won't leave Alain and Bénédicte alone.
Then the lemming turns up. We learn some interesting things about lemmings, which add tension when Bénédicte swims far out in a secluded lake.
I won't give away any more of the plot, suffice to say it's a long movie, over two hours, but I didn't want it to end, I was enjoying the twists so much.
Fascinating seeing the two Charlottes in the same film, unusual beauties with charisma to spare.
The whole thing is played low-key. Bénédicte is preternaturally calm. At one point, the in-your-face Alice, after constant probing, asks Bénédicte if she ever gets angry?
Films like this that play games with your head often paint themselves into a corner and have weak resolutions. Not so here, the ending is as enigmatic as the rest of the film.
"Lemming" has a score by David Whitaker. An English composer and arranger, he had worked with top recording artists including Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte's Dad. His subtle chords and use of the music of Johann Strauss help create the unexpected mood.