Isabelle (2011) Reviews

• Didn't meet my expectations

  eevski-170-3351312011-09-26

  It's been a while since I read the book (15 yrs ago), so I knew about the theme of the story, but I had forgotten about the details. I expected a lot more than this film gave me. Isabelle (Halina Reijn) is a famous and beloved actress from the Netherlands, who disappears when on Holiday in Belgium. She has been kidnapped by bartender Jeanne Bitor (Tineke Caels), an artist with a disfigured face. Jeanne is very bitter about her 'ugly' appearance, and she is obsessed with the process of dying and deterioration of animals and humans. Therefore, she abducts Isabelle and starves her to death, while painting her in different phases of the process. In the meanwhile, Isabelle tries to establish an emotional connection with Jeanne, in order to make friends and escape. She complains about the burden of being beautiful and Jeanne falls for it, giving Isabelle privileges such as food and a bath. Not long after, Jeanne finds out it's a fraud and Isabelle has merely been acting. From here on, the plot takes a turn for the worse, which I will not spoil. The problem with this film is first of all, the beginning. Isabelle is portrayed as a world famous Dutch actress in a way for which The Netherlands are too small of a country. Nobody in The Netherlands, regardless of stature, is treated in such an American way. Besides that, Isabelle is meant to be the personification of beauty. With all due respect, Halina Reijn is not the actress that brings to mind such terms. Halina holds a different kind of beauty, which makes the film a bit incredible. Also the abduction of Isabelle raised an eyebrow. It doesn't take much to persuade the actress to follow Jeanne to her house in the woods and in the basement. The absence of willingness to escape (also further on in the film) seems unnatural. Also, the café-scenes, where Jeanne works, are clearly shot in one day. Although weeks or months have passed (in the blink of an eye), nothing seems to have changed in the café. The sudden Isabelle-obsession of the village teacher after having secretly seen her masturbate (how Dutch), also seems a bit odd. The story never explains where his obsession comes from, except from the masturbation-scene, which doesn't seem plausibel. In spite of the above, Tineke Caels does manage to deliver good work. I was impressed by her performance of a young bitter and disfigured woman, obsessed and hurt by her ugliness, angry at Isabelle for her beauty and finally looking for affection. The role of Isabelle isn't as much in depth as is the role of Jeanne. Halina Reijn did a nice job, but as said before: I wouldn't have cast her as Isabelle. I praise Halina for her discipline in losing that much weight for this part. Overall, the film is a nice one to watch as a pass time, but it didn't meet my expectations. I expected more depth and psychology and more suspense in what is called a psychological thriller.

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• Delivers well as a hostage thriller no more, no less.

  MdlndeHond2012-01-11

  Regardless which book or by whom, it's the directors freedom to make any adaptation of the book and the story to their liking so let's review the movie here and not the book. This one turns out to be a thriller and not so much a psychological drama. Missed chance? Not completely. The story delivers well as a hostage thriller that touches lightly on the topic of when or not beauty is a blessing or a curse. The psychological games keep the story interesting where the story line is pretty straight forward. Is it worth an Oscar nomination? No, but it's entertaining and has a fabulous performance by Van Reijn who in my opinion is just as beautiful as the part requires. Which brings us to the point of the story, if there was one intended at all, beauty is just an opinion and skin deep.

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