Movie Review: Love Crime

How come French movies while targeted for non-French speaking audience get their titles changed to a boring one? This movie was released in France as Crime d'amour but it became Love Crime" for rest of the world. Is there a phrase called "Love Crime"? "Crime of love" sounds better than Love Crime. It is what the movie is all about. At the same time, it is not all that simple as the title thanks to the masterstroke by the director Alain Corneau. What kind of love is being referred here? We are made to wonder about this all through the movie.

The movie is about the consequences of rivalry between two executives, Christine(Kristin Scott Thomas) and Isabelle(Ludivine Sagnier). Christine has been mentoring Isabelle and is also reaping the benefits of all the good work done by Isabelle. Christine cares for the younger woman. On the other hand, Isabelle has a lot of respect for her mentor. But what is the basis of their dependency on each other? This is the question the film makes us ask ourselves. You can see Christine giving authoritative opinions to Isabelle from lipstick to shawls. You can also see Isabelle getting involved with Christine's lover trying to mimic what her mentor does even in bed.

When things go sour, you see a timid Isabelle react in a violent way. It makes you wonder how a sudden change of character ispossible. At the same time, this is crucial to make the movie a thriller. So a little bit of suspension of disbelief helps. Barring this, Alain Corneau successfully keeps us engrossed in the movie. This could have been made into a sleazy movie easily. Instead of taking the easy way, Alain Corneau decides to play with our minds.

If you love thrillers, then go for it.

Language: French

Genre: Thriller

Rating: ***

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