No. 73 (2023) THE CRIME IS MINE (MON CRIME) Palace (Aust) Oct 13th.

 

Film No. 73  (2023)  October 13th.  12:50 PM  PALACE Raine Sq, Cinema 2 (Platinum), Perth City.

"For years, women have been bitterly eliminating us" (The prosecution mounts their case against Madeleine with a sweeping statement or two).

Feature Film of the Week (Francois Ozon) Law Society Journal Aust. (2023).

Francois Ozon is possibly France's most prolific, current day feature film director. His resume reads as an A Grade artist's should. His popularity has been built on his ability to create films of substance, but none that you might label "Ozonesque" as one might a Wes Anderson flick. He is a versatile film maker, considering THE SWIMMING POOL and 8 WOMEN are two of his best. Both very different films. THE CRIME IS MINE is far more in the mould of the latter. Here he presents a silly, yet highly entertaining farce which is sharp in style and comic timing.  

So, what's the crime? Madeleine (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), an ambitious actress, is our  protagonist. We meet her in the opening scene, coming from a lavish dwelling, looking slightly dishevelled and anxious. Her friend Pauline, an energetic, "wet behind the ears" solicitor, is on hand to meet her as she arrives back in their flat. The lavish residence she has come from is that of a well known producer, Montferrand. She tells Pauline of his predatory behaviour, a key reason why she turned down the role he'd offered up. Soon a policeman arrives. He has news that the producer has been found, in his house, shot dead.  Madeleine is soon the key suspect, for good reason. Pauline will represent her. 

MON CRIME is really a film within a play, but that's because it is based on a 1934 play by Georges Berr. This notion becomes more apparent later, via a very clever finale involving Tereszkiewizc and the superb Isabelle Huppert playing Odette, the key ingredient in solving this mysterious killing. 

Here we have a #MeToo costume drama of the '30's, old as a farce and full of intrigue. A type of film, producer Weinstein may have approved of, told as a US version, twenty years ago. But the good thing is, he's in no position to do so. Thanks Francois, for this salient reminder, told with a lightness not aligned with such abominable behaviour. The ending, so important to the tale, is a delight.   10GUMS.