Eva Green made 'D'après une histoire vraie' captivating. Her performance is beyond art. She has insanely captivating energy as Elle. Eva brings tension, alertness, and suspense on screen. She'll own you if you watch this. Other than that, the movie is solid average. It has that unique emotion that follows you from the beginning to the end. Actors played great roles, considering the part mentioned above, because the plot has gaps.
19 Reviews
It is written
kosmasp11 October 2018
Writers block ... different edition. But again one, that you may have seen before or even if not, the mood of the movie seems to give away where this is heading. At least generally. If it were all smooth sailing, you wouldn't have a real movie. You need conflict in there, you need something that grips you and the characters in the movie.
Hopefully the right way and the suspension must work too. In this case there are cliches and you may shake your head on how gullyble the main character seems to be. You may very well be annoyed by her behaviour. If that is the case, you may not really enjoy what is coming. But there are things to discover and it still works as mystery thriller. It may not be Polanskis best (or anyone elses), but it's more than decent
Hopefully the right way and the suspension must work too. In this case there are cliches and you may shake your head on how gullyble the main character seems to be. You may very well be annoyed by her behaviour. If that is the case, you may not really enjoy what is coming. But there are things to discover and it still works as mystery thriller. It may not be Polanskis best (or anyone elses), but it's more than decent
Green lit
Horst_In_Translation18 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"D'après une histoire vraie" or "Based on a True Story" is a new French-language movie and the most recent work by controversial Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski and he was joined by another fairly famous French filmmaker Olivier Assayas here in adapting the novel into the script that makes the movie. Like Polanski's previous work, it is basically a two-man piece and the man's wife Emmanuelle Seigner is joined by Eva Green this time. it is the story of a successful yet mentally struggling writer whose life spirals into destruction with the appearance of a woman who's far more mysterious than she seems to be initially. And this woman is played by Green and I agree with the other writer who says that green is basically almost the only shining light in these 100 minutes. But she is good enough (and attractive enough, wow) to really allow me to be generous eventually and give this a positive recommendation. Seigner is okay I guess, but the story is really nothing special, hardly offers anything new and the plot feels like something that was done many times already and not worse most of these times. Oh yeah, I have not read the book it is based on, so don't know the base material is the problem or the adaptation. The attention to detail is weak at times, otherwise tolerable. I liked the moment with the identical shoes for example. The very last show with Seigner's character looking like Green at the signing again was underwhelming and looked like a desperate attempt to make the film seem smarter than it was. The stair falling scene was also not too great, felt really for the sake of it, same about all the scenes with Vincent Perez whose character could have been left out entirely. And a shame to see Dominique Pinon wasted like this in a one-scene performance. I am still undecided about the film from the realistic performance, for example about the dinner scene where it became quickly clear to the audience that nobody else would be coming. The idea that the two would look alike enough to be taken for one another is as absurd as it gets, but actually thinking about this in depth lets me think that it really only was included to show how Seigner's character believed everything at that point already that Green's was saying. This also works well together with the absurd idea that she would be a ghost writer for Depardieu and she believes that as well. One thing that certainly did not work out was the way Seigner's character's health and energy rise into unknown dimensions all of a sudden out of nowhere right after the broken kneecap and how she thinks she will trick the other woman all of a sudden while being hopeless and powerless before all the time. Very bizarre. Did not make sense at all to me. As for the several references to people people around Green's character dying in strange accidents, maybe it would have been a better choice to have her kill Seigner's character eventually. Show her fall in the pit, then move away the way Polanski did into the future and show her dead with a gunshot wound or something. This could have been better, but yeah he had to stay close to the book I guess. And finally, this is of course not a film with real suspense. We know from the very first moment Green enters the picture and shines magnificently that she is no good. All, in a huge thumbs-up for green, a minor thumbs-down for everything else. An okay watch if you like Polanski, the actors and the genre, but nowhere near must-see territory, probably not even among the very best French films from 2017. See it if you find nothing better.
Kind of "Misery" - but with changed background
maxmagnus-7027118 October 2021
Everything in movie was predictable, except one moment - which happened to be - unfinished in dead end street.
- Scenario is lacking the deeper dialogs - because everything seems rushed - and shallow.
- Then suddenly - the story began to look like the "Misery" - with locked hardly movable Delphine, with her injured leg - completely depend - of her younger "new friend" - in village house - with no people around - The "Misery" crawl out completely when Delphine ended up in bed, poisoned, and helpless, refused to surrender to her bully.
- So the movie was not so original, and Misery was far better in creating story tense.
- Actually the Misery part, should be the best one, but it came on 3/4 of the movie, probably seeing by Polanski as "peak" in story telling but it was to fast out - and leaved flat, leading imediately to end of the movie.
- It's kind of shame - because the story could be less predictable, and be better filmed and screenplayed.
- Scenario is lacking the deeper dialogs - because everything seems rushed - and shallow.
- Then suddenly - the story began to look like the "Misery" - with locked hardly movable Delphine, with her injured leg - completely depend - of her younger "new friend" - in village house - with no people around - The "Misery" crawl out completely when Delphine ended up in bed, poisoned, and helpless, refused to surrender to her bully.
- So the movie was not so original, and Misery was far better in creating story tense.
- Actually the Misery part, should be the best one, but it came on 3/4 of the movie, probably seeing by Polanski as "peak" in story telling but it was to fast out - and leaved flat, leading imediately to end of the movie.
- It's kind of shame - because the story could be less predictable, and be better filmed and screenplayed.
"Misery" in french sauce with a Hitchcockian touch
imursel28 September 2018
Maybe the worst feature of Roman Polanski's career - Rushed, trivial, unsatisfying and pointless.
John-564-3424495 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I've been a long-time admirer of Polanski's films and like his classicist directing style and unique blend of paranoia and the absurd. I read a few books about him, but none of them were too impressive, especially the Taschen one is basically a promotion tool without much analysis. Sure, I know that he's a rapist, but usually I can distinguish quite well between the art and the artist. Since I followed his career, seen all of his works - including his short films - and the important ones multiple times, I feel competent enough to judge this film in relation to his whole oeuvre, but also on its own merits.
Let's start with the elements that work. Emmanuelle Seigner gives the best performance in the film and I was surprised what a good and subtle actress she has become. She was acceptable in "Frantic", "Bitter Moon" and the misguided "The Ninth Gate", but in "Venus in Fur" and in this film she's seriously good and very well cast. I expected Eva Green to steal every scene she's in, but her performance is uneven and bizarre, which might have been intended, but it doesn't fit in well. Polanski highlighted only the Eva Green we already know from Tim Burton's films, but since we never quite understand her character or her motivations - or if she even exists - she comes across more like a troll than a fully formed character. The rest of the cast is nice, but they barely appear or make an impression. The widescreen cinematography is fine and stylish, just what I expected from Pawel Edelman. Colors are well chosen and the visuals flow quite nicely. The direction creates a little suspense through Polanski's trademark use of focusing on the limited perspective of the protagonist. The first half still offers promise and you are willing to look beyond the flaws, but then...
The story goes nowhere. Sadly, it's only a poor man's/woman's version of Stephen King's "Misery" crossed with Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club", which tries to make some sophisticated commentary on the relationship between art and life, but it fails. Do we really need to know, that art is inspired by life and that life imitates art sometimes ? Sorry, but this is trivial and no excuse for telling such a poor story. Even Francis Ford Coppola's "Twixt" (2011) - another stylish failure about a troubled and fantasizing author looking for new inspiration to write - was a little bit more original and personal than this much bigger waste of a good cast and crew, money and time.
Some defenders of this sophisticated-looking, but ultimately hollow film, might defend it on the ground that it's 'ambiguous' and that this in itself is a quality that makes it worthy. But the ambiguity is never in the service of something worth your attention. Good ambiguity illuminates and creates interesting complexities, while bad ambiguity only creates pointless confusion. Since the original version that Polanski presented at Cannes was about 10 minutes longer than the final version, this film was shortened, which might explain why the story feels rushed and no real atmosphere or connection to the characters develops. Is this film a victim of panicked re-editing ? Maybe, but the original version had the same disappointing ending and overall pointlessness, I read in the early Cannes reviews. The whole affair is now just shorter, but probably more confusing and even worse than before ?
They should have removed a few scenes with bad dialogue that not even Olivier Assayas as a director could have turned into gold. And they should have cut down the infamous scene where Eva Green trashes a mixer. This could have been directed by a blind man - it really hurts the credibility of the story, because her character's anger is not justified in that moment and it looks ridiculous. But even the most competent editor probably can't safe the life of this movie, because it has too little heart and brain. My only explanation for this disaster is, that screenwriter Olivier Assayas wanted to sabotage Roman Polanski's career by serving him with the worst possible screenplay. But since Polanski has enough experience and is credited as the co-writer, I'm afraid he has to take full responsibility.
Roman Polanski's worst films according to my opinion - and popular opinion - are ""What ?" (1972), "Pirates" (1986), "The Ninth Gate" (1999) and "Oliver Twist" (2005), but "Based on a true story" (2017) is maybe worse than all of them, because it fails to tell its basic story in a satisfying way. Even Polanski's lesser movies can be appreciated as mildly entertaining spectacles. Even they have a few attractions or a few outstanding scenes. "Based on a true story" is only a talky domestic drama, that has not much substance and you will leave the cinema asking yourself: "Why did Polanski even bother to make this movie ?"
The 'true story' of "Based on a true story" is probably, that it was only made, because the book was a bestseller and Polanski needed a job after his project "D" was delayed. Nobody cared about this story or this film as a work of art, because it's only designed to rip-off the book's readers and Polanski's few supporters left alive. Don't pay for this movie, you will regret it.
Let's start with the elements that work. Emmanuelle Seigner gives the best performance in the film and I was surprised what a good and subtle actress she has become. She was acceptable in "Frantic", "Bitter Moon" and the misguided "The Ninth Gate", but in "Venus in Fur" and in this film she's seriously good and very well cast. I expected Eva Green to steal every scene she's in, but her performance is uneven and bizarre, which might have been intended, but it doesn't fit in well. Polanski highlighted only the Eva Green we already know from Tim Burton's films, but since we never quite understand her character or her motivations - or if she even exists - she comes across more like a troll than a fully formed character. The rest of the cast is nice, but they barely appear or make an impression. The widescreen cinematography is fine and stylish, just what I expected from Pawel Edelman. Colors are well chosen and the visuals flow quite nicely. The direction creates a little suspense through Polanski's trademark use of focusing on the limited perspective of the protagonist. The first half still offers promise and you are willing to look beyond the flaws, but then...
The story goes nowhere. Sadly, it's only a poor man's/woman's version of Stephen King's "Misery" crossed with Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club", which tries to make some sophisticated commentary on the relationship between art and life, but it fails. Do we really need to know, that art is inspired by life and that life imitates art sometimes ? Sorry, but this is trivial and no excuse for telling such a poor story. Even Francis Ford Coppola's "Twixt" (2011) - another stylish failure about a troubled and fantasizing author looking for new inspiration to write - was a little bit more original and personal than this much bigger waste of a good cast and crew, money and time.
Some defenders of this sophisticated-looking, but ultimately hollow film, might defend it on the ground that it's 'ambiguous' and that this in itself is a quality that makes it worthy. But the ambiguity is never in the service of something worth your attention. Good ambiguity illuminates and creates interesting complexities, while bad ambiguity only creates pointless confusion. Since the original version that Polanski presented at Cannes was about 10 minutes longer than the final version, this film was shortened, which might explain why the story feels rushed and no real atmosphere or connection to the characters develops. Is this film a victim of panicked re-editing ? Maybe, but the original version had the same disappointing ending and overall pointlessness, I read in the early Cannes reviews. The whole affair is now just shorter, but probably more confusing and even worse than before ?
They should have removed a few scenes with bad dialogue that not even Olivier Assayas as a director could have turned into gold. And they should have cut down the infamous scene where Eva Green trashes a mixer. This could have been directed by a blind man - it really hurts the credibility of the story, because her character's anger is not justified in that moment and it looks ridiculous. But even the most competent editor probably can't safe the life of this movie, because it has too little heart and brain. My only explanation for this disaster is, that screenwriter Olivier Assayas wanted to sabotage Roman Polanski's career by serving him with the worst possible screenplay. But since Polanski has enough experience and is credited as the co-writer, I'm afraid he has to take full responsibility.
Roman Polanski's worst films according to my opinion - and popular opinion - are ""What ?" (1972), "Pirates" (1986), "The Ninth Gate" (1999) and "Oliver Twist" (2005), but "Based on a true story" (2017) is maybe worse than all of them, because it fails to tell its basic story in a satisfying way. Even Polanski's lesser movies can be appreciated as mildly entertaining spectacles. Even they have a few attractions or a few outstanding scenes. "Based on a true story" is only a talky domestic drama, that has not much substance and you will leave the cinema asking yourself: "Why did Polanski even bother to make this movie ?"
The 'true story' of "Based on a true story" is probably, that it was only made, because the book was a bestseller and Polanski needed a job after his project "D" was delayed. Nobody cared about this story or this film as a work of art, because it's only designed to rip-off the book's readers and Polanski's few supporters left alive. Don't pay for this movie, you will regret it.
This is a fine old two-hander in traditional style with competent acting from Eva Green and Emmanuelle Seigner.
ma-cortes8 August 2023
After a tremendous success of her debut autobiographical novel dedicated to her late mother , writer Delphine Dayrieux (Emmanuelle Seigner) goes through a tough and difficult period. After the release of her latest book , as she gets involved with an obstinate admirer , Ella (Eva Green) . The lonely and unsuspecting Parisian author , realises that there are cold and unrelenting haters among a sea of worshippers . On the other hand , step by step , Elle intrudes clandestinely into the life of the tormented and tired writer . Elle attempts to break Delphine's persistent block. Little by little , Elle becomes designingly essential to Delphine. Worse still , Elle turns into fury when she reads her projected new novel.....
This is an attractive story in short budget about the classic confrontation between two stars , with ordinay battle of wills . None of it is exactly unpredictable , but director Roman Polanski does it well within its limitations and gettting well-observed portraits from Emmanuelle Seigner as writer Delphine Dayrieux and Eva Green as her obsessed fan Elle . Concerning the already seen plot of the elusive and alluringly enigmatic woman , Elle , who is bent on helping Delphine , a blocked writer with her illusions and own inner demons . That's why the film sounds quite like ¨Misery¨by Rob Reiner and ¨The Ghost Writer¨ by director Polanski himself . Starring duo are pretty good . In fact , in my opinion Eva Green gives a better acting - as the passionate admirer, and cryptic new friend- than Polanski's wife , Emmanuelle Seigner . Being Roman Polanski's fifth collaboration with Emmanuelle Seigner . However , the film is slow-moving and really dull , until the final part in which tension , suspense and thriller enhances , getting success enough.
It displays a colorful and adequate cinematography by cameraman Pawel Edelman , Polanski's regular . This is Roman Polanski's sixth feature film collaboration with cinematographer Pawel Edelman . As well as evocative and exciting musical score by French composer Alexandre Desplat . The motion picture was co-written and professionally directed by the Polish Roman Polanski . Polanski's cinematic trajectory is hard , problematic and full of incidents. In 1968, Polanski went to Hollywood, where he made the psychological thriller, Rosemary's Baby (1968). However, after the brutal murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson Family in 1969, the director decided to return to Europe. In 1974, he again made a US release - it was Chinatown (1974) . It seemed the beginning of a promising Hollywood career, but after his conviction for the sodomy of a 13-year old girl, Polanski fled from he USA to avoid prison. After Tess (1979), which was awarded several Oscars and Cesars, his works in 1980s and 1990s became intermittent and rarely approached the caliber of his earlier films. In 1992 made Bitter Moon , but it doesn't succeed as the erotic drama it's intented to be and including some ludicrous lines from what must be Polanski's worst movie . It wasn't until The pianist (2002) that Polanski came back to full form. His career is full of hits and some flops , such as : his big success Rosemary's Baby , Chinatown, The pianist , Oliver Twist , Frantic, Dance of vampire , among others . And The Ghost Writer (2010) in which Polanski was arrested September 2009 in Switzerland, post-production was never put on hold , he then oversaw every step of the film and made all of the artistic decisions. He finished editing the movie while in a Swiss prison and in December 2009, Roman was released on bail but placed under house arrest . And later Polanski made Carnage (2011) , Venus in furs (2013) , J'accuse (2019) and this D'après une histoire vraie (2017) or Based on a True Story (World-wide, English title) whose rating is 6/10 .
This is an attractive story in short budget about the classic confrontation between two stars , with ordinay battle of wills . None of it is exactly unpredictable , but director Roman Polanski does it well within its limitations and gettting well-observed portraits from Emmanuelle Seigner as writer Delphine Dayrieux and Eva Green as her obsessed fan Elle . Concerning the already seen plot of the elusive and alluringly enigmatic woman , Elle , who is bent on helping Delphine , a blocked writer with her illusions and own inner demons . That's why the film sounds quite like ¨Misery¨by Rob Reiner and ¨The Ghost Writer¨ by director Polanski himself . Starring duo are pretty good . In fact , in my opinion Eva Green gives a better acting - as the passionate admirer, and cryptic new friend- than Polanski's wife , Emmanuelle Seigner . Being Roman Polanski's fifth collaboration with Emmanuelle Seigner . However , the film is slow-moving and really dull , until the final part in which tension , suspense and thriller enhances , getting success enough.
It displays a colorful and adequate cinematography by cameraman Pawel Edelman , Polanski's regular . This is Roman Polanski's sixth feature film collaboration with cinematographer Pawel Edelman . As well as evocative and exciting musical score by French composer Alexandre Desplat . The motion picture was co-written and professionally directed by the Polish Roman Polanski . Polanski's cinematic trajectory is hard , problematic and full of incidents. In 1968, Polanski went to Hollywood, where he made the psychological thriller, Rosemary's Baby (1968). However, after the brutal murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson Family in 1969, the director decided to return to Europe. In 1974, he again made a US release - it was Chinatown (1974) . It seemed the beginning of a promising Hollywood career, but after his conviction for the sodomy of a 13-year old girl, Polanski fled from he USA to avoid prison. After Tess (1979), which was awarded several Oscars and Cesars, his works in 1980s and 1990s became intermittent and rarely approached the caliber of his earlier films. In 1992 made Bitter Moon , but it doesn't succeed as the erotic drama it's intented to be and including some ludicrous lines from what must be Polanski's worst movie . It wasn't until The pianist (2002) that Polanski came back to full form. His career is full of hits and some flops , such as : his big success Rosemary's Baby , Chinatown, The pianist , Oliver Twist , Frantic, Dance of vampire , among others . And The Ghost Writer (2010) in which Polanski was arrested September 2009 in Switzerland, post-production was never put on hold , he then oversaw every step of the film and made all of the artistic decisions. He finished editing the movie while in a Swiss prison and in December 2009, Roman was released on bail but placed under house arrest . And later Polanski made Carnage (2011) , Venus in furs (2013) , J'accuse (2019) and this D'après une histoire vraie (2017) or Based on a True Story (World-wide, English title) whose rating is 6/10 .
Awful dialogues and flat plot
funambuline24 October 2019
I saw this movie without knowing what it was, just intrigued by the summary. I was really disappointed. The dialogues sound really bad, like a badly dubbed movie (I saw it in French, the original language). All the sound of the movies sound fake. Anyway, I was intrigued to see where it would go. It goes nowhere. We understand as soon as she appears who is the bad guy, and she is.
At the end of the movie I understood this was directed by Polanski. I was shocked! The actors are not bad, but the direction is. Really bad. Save two hours and see another movie.
At the end of the movie I understood this was directed by Polanski. I was shocked! The actors are not bad, but the direction is. Really bad. Save two hours and see another movie.
Awesome
ReadingFilm10 September 2023
His first traditional creeper since The Ninth Gate, the film is genuinely unnerving, boasting Polanski's trademark scares and sprinkled with just enough meta-storytelling elements to pique the intellect.
Emmanuelle Seigner, often Polanski's muse, to mixed results, shines differently here. Instead of playing the femme fatale, she channels the essence of Peter Coyote's character from Bitter Moon. Drenched in sweat, reactive and constantly piecing together the puzzle, she offers a fresh on-screen exploration, showcasing the dynamic director-actor partnership they share.
"Based on a True Story" is a delightful flirtation with meta-storytelling elements. Although it doesn't delve deep into fiction versus reality or authorship complexities, it stands as an homage to films that do. Seigner's portrayal of a writer becomes Polanski's medium to tip his hat to the films that traverse the ambiguous boundaries between life and art. The narrative is like a scenic tour of meta-cinematic themes. It feels familiar yet offers a refreshed perspective, akin to revisiting known terrains with a new lens.
Interestingly, while Polanski's style has inspired many, including Darren Aronofsky, shades of Aronofsky's influence are palpable in this piece. Artistic inspirations often come full circle.
The film evokes memories of classics like Misery, and the co-dependent merging reminiscent of Persona. It's not merely a thriller; it's an exercise in "thriller". Every character, even the background ones, are meticulously cast and memorable, elevating the movie-watching experience.
However, there are unexplored territories, especially the ending which left me anticipating a specific revelation. It's a familiar tune but rendered beautifully.
Emmanuelle Seigner, often Polanski's muse, to mixed results, shines differently here. Instead of playing the femme fatale, she channels the essence of Peter Coyote's character from Bitter Moon. Drenched in sweat, reactive and constantly piecing together the puzzle, she offers a fresh on-screen exploration, showcasing the dynamic director-actor partnership they share.
"Based on a True Story" is a delightful flirtation with meta-storytelling elements. Although it doesn't delve deep into fiction versus reality or authorship complexities, it stands as an homage to films that do. Seigner's portrayal of a writer becomes Polanski's medium to tip his hat to the films that traverse the ambiguous boundaries between life and art. The narrative is like a scenic tour of meta-cinematic themes. It feels familiar yet offers a refreshed perspective, akin to revisiting known terrains with a new lens.
Interestingly, while Polanski's style has inspired many, including Darren Aronofsky, shades of Aronofsky's influence are palpable in this piece. Artistic inspirations often come full circle.
The film evokes memories of classics like Misery, and the co-dependent merging reminiscent of Persona. It's not merely a thriller; it's an exercise in "thriller". Every character, even the background ones, are meticulously cast and memorable, elevating the movie-watching experience.
However, there are unexplored territories, especially the ending which left me anticipating a specific revelation. It's a familiar tune but rendered beautifully.
Meh
tommsivertsen7 June 2020
passionless, seen-before narrative
mravawishes31 July 2023
Although i am an admirer of both the main actress and the director, this movie was extremely underwhelming for me. It's a psychological thriller/drama of sorts, yet there is no sense of urgency to it and the story is somewhat uninvolving, as no particular emotional connection with the characters is established. We never see what exactly is so bewitching about the character of Delphine - she's a bipolar flat line for most of the movie. The plotting is scattershot and somewhat random; the scenery and the cinematography are typical of a French movie of this kind, although a little too much grey/colorless; the performances are nothing special.
Even if one embraces a metaphorical/hallucinatory reading of the film - for which there are many great arguments - it doesn't make it much more interesting.
A basket full of missed opportunities; wouldn't recommend.
Even if one embraces a metaphorical/hallucinatory reading of the film - for which there are many great arguments - it doesn't make it much more interesting.
A basket full of missed opportunities; wouldn't recommend.
the writer and her ghost
dromasca8 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I will try the impossible, namely to write about the penultimate film of Roman Polanski, ignoring his controversial personality and biography. In writing the screenplay for 'Based on a True Story' (original title in French is 'D'apres une histoire vraie'), made in 2017, Polanski collaborated with the writer Delphine de Vigan who wrote the novel that inspired the film, a novel that received one of the prestigious awards of the French literary world in 2015, and with screenwriter and director Olivier Assayas, himself author of excellent psychological thrillers. The result is quite satisfactory in my opinion, but not very original. The story seems to borrow ideas and snippets of characters from many other films - something from 'Misery' (the heroine is a writer whose life is taken over by someone who wants to control her writing), something from the Bourne movies and their games. Identity, and something even from Polanski himself, one of the heroines being a 'ghost writer' just like in his 2010 film. The plot is not terribly original, but Polanski's style and directing hand are visible, even if the tools in his kit seem to be slightly blunt.
Is it a ghost story? At one point I also asked myself this question. Delphine, the main heroine of the film (Emmanuelle Seigner), is a famous writer. At a launch of her previous book, she meets an admirer (Eva Green) whose name is Elle (maybe from Elisabeth, maybe the generic Elle = She, maybe just L.). The slightly younger woman seems to be the ideal friend and perhaps the soulmate needed in the creative crisis before writing the first pages of her next book. Elle is a 'ghost writer', meaning she writes books signed by personalities, other famous women. The closeness between the two women is becoming more and more toxic. Elle begins to rummage through Delphine's life, to share a personal biography that seems too tragic to be true. Friendship or hidden goals? The relationship between the two seems to mix empathy with the desire to control, the writing rivalry with a dangerous game of identities.
The two actresses are on screen almost permanently together. The relationship between them involves curiosity and fear and the tension is built as very sincere and transparent Delphine reveals her secrets receiving in return from Elle a life story that seems to be descending from the ambiguous space of imagination or maybe nightmares. There are 'logical holes' in the story, but they seem rather intentional, because maybe we don't see everything, or maybe not everything that we see is real. Polanski describes with authenticity the French literary and intellectual environment, with the fascination for successful writers who are media personalities as is not often the case elsewhere in the world. His respect for the profession of writer is visible, and the dilemmas of the creator in front of the blank page, still unwritten, are perfectly brought to the screen. As in good thriller movies, we will watch a car trip at night, and the story will have as setting a villa in an isolated place which can be controlled by shadows, criminals, maybe even ghosts. The gradation of the tension did not disappoint me, and I also liked the fact that the screenwriters did not try to explain everything, leaving room for imagination and discussion.'Based on a True Story' may not be Polanski's best film, and it feels like he's reusing, as in a collage, materials and ideas from other books and movies (some of his own), but in the end it's a good psychological thriller, which I believe will not disappoint the fans of the genre or of the director.
Is it a ghost story? At one point I also asked myself this question. Delphine, the main heroine of the film (Emmanuelle Seigner), is a famous writer. At a launch of her previous book, she meets an admirer (Eva Green) whose name is Elle (maybe from Elisabeth, maybe the generic Elle = She, maybe just L.). The slightly younger woman seems to be the ideal friend and perhaps the soulmate needed in the creative crisis before writing the first pages of her next book. Elle is a 'ghost writer', meaning she writes books signed by personalities, other famous women. The closeness between the two women is becoming more and more toxic. Elle begins to rummage through Delphine's life, to share a personal biography that seems too tragic to be true. Friendship or hidden goals? The relationship between the two seems to mix empathy with the desire to control, the writing rivalry with a dangerous game of identities.
The two actresses are on screen almost permanently together. The relationship between them involves curiosity and fear and the tension is built as very sincere and transparent Delphine reveals her secrets receiving in return from Elle a life story that seems to be descending from the ambiguous space of imagination or maybe nightmares. There are 'logical holes' in the story, but they seem rather intentional, because maybe we don't see everything, or maybe not everything that we see is real. Polanski describes with authenticity the French literary and intellectual environment, with the fascination for successful writers who are media personalities as is not often the case elsewhere in the world. His respect for the profession of writer is visible, and the dilemmas of the creator in front of the blank page, still unwritten, are perfectly brought to the screen. As in good thriller movies, we will watch a car trip at night, and the story will have as setting a villa in an isolated place which can be controlled by shadows, criminals, maybe even ghosts. The gradation of the tension did not disappoint me, and I also liked the fact that the screenwriters did not try to explain everything, leaving room for imagination and discussion.'Based on a True Story' may not be Polanski's best film, and it feels like he's reusing, as in a collage, materials and ideas from other books and movies (some of his own), but in the end it's a good psychological thriller, which I believe will not disappoint the fans of the genre or of the director.
Eva & Seigner!!
evancadet28 March 2022
a movie criticizing his time
yrol3 September 2018
You get the impression that people no longer know how to see a film and what it says. Not only is the rhythm similar to Polanski's previous films, but it develops a disturbing relationship between a novelist and herself and the whole with her audience. The film criticizes the novelists who play on the autofiction and the public of social networks in the narcissistic relationship that all this little world maintains with itself. The theme of the double is at the center of the film and Polanski had wanted to adapt Dostoeivski's Double. Polanski hasn't changed, it's the public that has become more ignorant in general.
Polanski as he is
maricadrugarica15 June 2018
Although Polanski made his outstanding movies so far, this one is remarkable as the one before, La Vénus à la fourrure. Based on only two characters, the story reveals psychological movements in human behaviour, with one who is opened and unsecure and the other, who is actually dictating everything, in disguise, towards the goal it wants to achieve. Eva Green and Emmanuelle Seigner are really good pair and great match for this plot. Reccomendation for all of the Polanski's lovers.
Shady but Intriguing
manigarg000027 April 2020
The movie has some brilliant scenes, the camera angles and the color contrast is brilliant, the sound effects are awesome. The whole theme is dark.
I watched this movie in it's original language with subtitles in English, but still according to the situation in the movie the way the actors delivered there dialogues was not fitting, even when arguing, the actress which plays the author is very calm with her expressions and way of speaking.
Also the plot of the movie was a bit blur, it seemed that after watching it felt like I watched it through a blurry lens.
Another Great Polanski FIlm with a Scratch Your Head Ending
arfdawg-129 January 2021
Polanski as a history of movies which take a left hand turn right at the end. Rosemary Baby does, Bitter Moon does, The tenant REALLY does, and this one is no different.
I was entralled by the film, but somewhat let down by the ending.
Similarly, I love The Tenant. I've seen it like maybe 20 times and STILL don't understand the ending.
Same here. But only one viewing.
I was entralled by the film, but somewhat let down by the ending.
Similarly, I love The Tenant. I've seen it like maybe 20 times and STILL don't understand the ending.
Same here. But only one viewing.
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