Rachel McAdams kisses Noomi Rapace in Brian De Palma’s thriller Passion, a remake of Alain Corneau’s Crime d’amour / Love Crime. McAdams replaces Kristin Scott Thomas; Rapace replaces Ludivine Sagnier in this tale of “a deadly power struggle between two women in the dog-eat-dog world of international business.”
In Passion, Noomi Rapace plays Isabelle, a young, bright, and naive personal assistant, whose ruthless boss (Rachel McAdams) steals her ideas. But the young and naive assistant soon learns to act like a young and ruthless power-player.
Passion is described as “an erotic thriller” along the lines of De Palma’s own Dressed to Kill and Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct. Whether that’ll impress prospective buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival remains to be seen. Though Passion certainly looks more promising than the Rachel McAdams / Channing Tatum sleeper hit The Vow.
As per Box Office Mojo, Love Crime earned a relatively modest $2.81 million in its first three weeks in France. Distributed by IFC Films, the French thriller collected only $539,000 in North America.
Others in the Passion cast: Dominic Cooper, Paul Anderson, Karoline Herfurth, and Rainer Bock.
Passion movie
‘Passion’ movie: Lesbian Kiss Poster
The Rachel McAdams-Noomi Rapace lesbian kiss in Passion is prominently featured in the sales poster for the upcoming Brian De Palma thriller. De Palma’s Passion movie will be offered at the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off tomorrow evening with a screening of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom.
A remake of Alain Corneau’s French thriller Crime d’amour / Love Crime – in which lesbianism remains a subtext – Passion stars The Vow‘s McAdams in the old Kristin Scott Thomas role. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Rapace replaces Ludivine Sagnier. The erotic element in De Palma’s remake is clearly seen as a key selling point for the movie.
The Passion plot is described as “a deadly power struggle between two women in the dog-eat-dog world of international business”: Isabelle (Noomi Rapace) is a bright and naive personal assistant to a ruthless boss (Rachel McAdams) who steals her ideas. Eventually, the young and naive assistant learns to behave like a cunning power-player.
Others in the Passion movie cast are Mamma Mia!‘s Dominic Cooper, Paul Anderson, Karoline Herfurth, and Rainer Bock.
Isabelle Fuhrman & Isabelle Huppert: ‘Suspiria’ Remake
The Hunger Games / Orphan‘s Isabelle Fuhrman to star in Suspiria. In David Gordon Green’s remake of the Dario Argento horror classic, Fuhrman will play the old Jessica Harper role: an American student who discovers that her European boarding school is a coven of witches. Joining Fuhrman are Isabelle Huppert, Janet McTeer, Michael Nyqvist, and Antje Traue.
According to Screen International, Wild Bunch is currently selling distribution rights at the Cannes Film Festival, which kicked off this evening. Also attached to Suspiria are costume designer Milena Canonero (Marie Antoinette, Carnage) and a couple of Green collaborators: production designer Richard A. Wright (The Sitter, Undertow) and cinematographer Tim Orr (Pineapple Express, Your Highness).
David Gordon Green penned the screenplay with Christof Gebert, a sound mixer in several of Green’s films.
Pure speculation: I’m assuming Isabelle Huppert will have the old Alida Valli role. If so, that’s brilliant casting, much like Valli’s casting was brilliant back in 1977. And though about 15 years younger, Janet McTeer will likely have the old Joan Bennett role. (The veteran Bennett, whose film career began at Warner Bros. at the dawn of the sound era, was 67 at the time.)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Michael Nyqvist will likely have the old Udo Kier role, a psychologist. For now, I can’t think of who Antje Traue might play in the Suspiria reboot / remake.
Marion Cotillard Oscar Buzz
The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw on Jacques Audiard’s De rouille et d’os / Rust & Bone, starring Marion Cotillard (who’s already getting Oscar buzz) and Matthias Schoenaerts: “What could have been simply bizarre, sentimental or contrived here becomes an utterly absorbing love story; Rust and Bone is a tale of a miraculous friendship which evolves into an enthralling and moving romance, wonderfully acted by Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. … This is early days in the festival, but Rust and Bone has to be a real contender for prizes, and, the odds will be shortening to vanishing point for Cotillard getting the best actress award.”
Time‘s Mary Corliss Rust & Bone: “For all the grit of its milieu and the stark cinematographic contrasts of blinding brightness and midnight murkiness, this is a movie of the old school; Kings Row and An Affair to Remember leap to mind. Audiard and his cowriter Thomas Bidegain unashamedly employ all tricks of audience manipulation. Ali is taking a beating in one fight, until he sees Stéph step awkwardly into his sightline and he is inspired to win the match. … Many a viewer will buy into these plot devices — they have certainly worked enough times before — and those who don’t should still be impressed by the two stars’ unforced intimacy.”
The Hollywood Reporter‘s Todd McCarthy on Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, with Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and Bruce Willis: “Although it trades in such large matters as true love, destiny, child abandonment and a storm of historic proportions, these issues are of no greater significance in the film than how two plaid fabrics look next to each other or the specific placement of a piece of Benjamin Britten music. In other words, this is a Wes Anderson film – more lightweight than some, possessing a stronger emotional undertow than others – that will strike the uninitiated as conspicuously arch.”
Though many enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom, The Guardian‘s Xan Brooks wasn’t one of those. That can be attested by this video review in which Brooks calls Anderson’s movie “mannered and studied and, weirdly, a bit soulless.”
And in The Hollywood Reporter, Neil Young calls Lou Ye’s Mystery “a fitfully engaging return to ‘official’ filmmaking after a half-decade ban,” adding that “it’s hard to see this blandly-titled, rain-soaked romantic melodrama gaining much commercial traction, despite two strong performances by the female leads.” Mystery stars Hao Lei, Qin Hao, Qi Xi, and Zu Feng.
Marion Cotillard / Rust and Bone picture: Cannes Film Festival.
Isabelle Fuhrman / Orphan picture: Warner Bros.
1 comment
The original didn’t really have lesbian content, more like lesbian suggestiveness. I guess Brian dePalma’s going all out??
The same thing happened with Chloe: the French version merely had lesbian subtext, whereas the North American version had a full on lesbian sex scene with Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore (not that I’m complaining).