Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Jenna Walter
The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
Tobias Burrows
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Pro Jury
A companion film to 1990's "Le Mari de la coiffeuse."Although the lead actress gives a fine performance, "La Femme défendue" is little more than another Bill Clintonesque middle-age fantasy telling the story of a married man chasing young women. This time, the camera lens has full-time duty capturing the POV of the seducer. We see the woman-chasing through the chaser's own eyes -- the whole entire length of the film.
Unfortunately, instead of lifting this piece of self-indulgence to the level of art, "La Femme défendue" moves at a sloth's pace with all the grace and class of a beer-belly trailer park Bubba. Chasing a West Wing intern with a French accent -- a must skip!
Paul
Harel's film, not distributed in the United States, is an uncommonly insightful study of an adulterous affair and perhaps the only film to use a First Person POV in a way that's successful as more than merely a conceit.Harel is an Parisian executive who seduces a woman circa 20 years his junior, and slowly falls in love with her. The film employs a consistent subjective vantage point (we see his face only twice, as a reflection), daring us to identify with this man in an amoral act for which he has little guilt, whereupon we realize how truly likely it is we might find ourselves in this position. It's more than merely tantalizing; it's challenging and remarkably adult, but without ever becoming austere. Isabelle Carré, who plays his interest, is excellent here, almost always in the dead center of an unbroken shot, in which we watch her melt, break, harden, and everything else.It's fascinating to witness the complete shift of power and control from Harel, initially the dominant pursuant, to Carré, initially the helpless conquest. At the film's end, the viewer is left with a potent impression of adulterous romance not as it occurs in the likes of 'Fatal Attraction,' but as it might occur to him.
andre-71
The film is unique in the way it puts the viewer in the middle of an immoral action. Seeing the extremely cute Muriel being seduced by a person who is somehow yourself is certainly a masculine sexual phantasy. I enjoyed very much letting my alter ego do the seduction work while being able to relax in my armchair and watch Muriel melting away. And in the end, I was quite happy to be able to leave that alter ego behind. What a nice ability - never to be found in the real world. Original idea and very good acting!
orakio
This movie wouldn't be the same, and it wouldn't be so good either, without the presence of a marvelous "fragile" actress named Isabelle Carre. She just changes the movie, with her natural way of speaking (very charming), her spontaneity, her beauty ! Waouuu, probably this is the first time I "fell in love" with a fictional character.Anyway, she really performs her role brilliantly, and that's the reason why you should at least take a look at this movie, just for Isabelle Carre.
