ELLE [2016]

Director Paul Verhoeven both allures and repels with the French psychological revenge thriller Elle.
Still troubled from witnessing her father go on a mass murder spree years ago, Elle, an older woman falls victim to a violent rape that takes her down a path she is oddly attracted to in the most disturbing of ways.
Isabelle Huppert, in the title role, delivers a very gripping performance with all sorts of nuanced layers that I don't think many others in her profession could pull off.  After stinkers like Hollow Man and Showgirls, Verhoeven has wisely decided to tackle more low-key projects. Here it allows him to shine with a deadpan absurdity that isn't apparent as it's buried beneath a disturbing ordinariness that threatens to crumble with each uneasy corner.  The film isn't for everyone but should you feel the need to venture down this dark psychosexual path, I can assure you it's riveting as it is repulsive.

4 feline witnesses out of 5

AMOUR [2012]

Writer/director Michael Haneke goes against his usual cold & distant tones and opts for the close & intimate in his heart-wrenching drama Amour.

It's a story about an elderly couple that has their love put to a most difficult test in their final days due to the wife suffering a paralyzing stroke.  Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva do a fantastic job at carrying the film as the couple that feels so natural you think you'd been watching them for years.  The photography, while not too variable in angles or shots, is effective and somewhat mysterious.  It's the type of film that completely crushes your heart and sometimes just too difficult to watch but somehow life reassuring at the same time. 

4½  stories never told out of 5