Famed French director Alain Corneau helmed the 2010 psychological thriller "Love Crime," which marks his last completed theatrical effort before passing away. The film has finally arrived stateside and is slowly making its way across the country via independent theaters. The story is a familiar one but told in way that is unlike most American thrillers.
It's a story of revenge served up in a delightfully playful and sinister manner. The psychology behind the motives of the main characters is genuinely intriguing. The acting is stellar, especially Ludivine Sagnier as Isabelle, a naive young business executive slowly making her way up the corporate ladder. Kristin Scott Thomas plays Christine, Isabelle's manipulative boss whose controlling nature takes a turn for the sadistic as the film plays out.
As the title would suggest, the film is primarily divided into two segments. The first half, dedicated to love, constructs Isabelle's unhealthy dependency upon pleasing Christine by any means necessary. Their quasi-sexual relationship is ill-fated from the opening scene, which is what makes the psychological cat-and-mouse game that ensues so incredibly intriguing. Amid sleeping with Christine's lover and attempting to sabotage work projects, Isabelle becomes entangled in a vicious web of deceit and, ultimately, vengeance. The second half is all about her crime and the insidious, malevolent person Isabelle has become.
The transformation Isabelle undergoes is a slow and methodical one. Watching her go from an innocent cog in the wheel of the corporate machine to the strong yet vapid business exec at the top of her game is a fun roller-coaster ride to say the least. At no point does the plot drag or linger for too long. By the time the second half of the film rolls around, the action is already at full throttle, all the way to the brilliant, albeit somewhat predictable, climax.
"Love Crime" is a cerebral, seductive, vengeful thrill ride of the highest order and a perfect sendoff to one of France's most prolific directors. Make sure not to miss out on this when it hits Keystone Art Cinema on Friday, November 18.