More an Intelligent drama, with some violent overtones more than the "thriller" it's packaged as. This has more in common with "Rashomon" than with the latest slick action movie out of Hollywood.
Isabelle Adjani plays a young woman unhinged by the knowledge of her mother's brutal rape by 3 men years earlier, and she has built her life around seeking revenge. The film's most striking aspect is the use of multiple switching narrators, so we see the tale unfold from several points of view.
Adjani, as always, has a tremendous emotional rawness, but for me the performance (and the writing) wears its heart a little too much on it's sleeve. I wish she wasn't so clearly crazy much of the time. Or that more people seemed to notice just how blatantly manipulative her behavior is.
The pace is very slow, which worked a lot of the time, but I did find myself frustrated at moments.
But all that said, this is an interesting experiment in telling a complex story, with strong performances all around. And if it occasionally falls into melodrama, it also is full of moments that are disturbing, moving and shocking.
Isabelle Adjani plays a young woman unhinged by the knowledge of her mother's brutal rape by 3 men years earlier, and she has built her life around seeking revenge. The film's most striking aspect is the use of multiple switching narrators, so we see the tale unfold from several points of view.
Adjani, as always, has a tremendous emotional rawness, but for me the performance (and the writing) wears its heart a little too much on it's sleeve. I wish she wasn't so clearly crazy much of the time. Or that more people seemed to notice just how blatantly manipulative her behavior is.
The pace is very slow, which worked a lot of the time, but I did find myself frustrated at moments.
But all that said, this is an interesting experiment in telling a complex story, with strong performances all around. And if it occasionally falls into melodrama, it also is full of moments that are disturbing, moving and shocking.