I did not particularly appreciate Michel Spinosa's former movie "La Parenthèse enchantée". As a result I was not particularly keen on seeing his next. But I happened to see the trailer for "Anna M." and I was hooked. I HAD TO rush to a theater: thrills seemed to be guaranteed.
And I was not let down. With this film Spinosa proves he has made tremendous progress (to my mind at least). His hand as a director has become firmer and the subject he has picked this time around is both an exciting and accurate depiction of a psychiatric clinical case, erotomania as it happens. He has also chosen Isabelle Carré, the ideal actress for the role.
The whole plot revolves around an attractive young woman named Anna M. (is "M." a reference to Fritz Lang's accursed "hero"?) who suffers from solitude and depression. After failing to kill herself she is brought back to life thanks to the care of Doctor André Zanevsky. She soon falls in love with him, totally disregarding the fact that the man she shamelessly calls André is happily married and remains totally unresponsive to her advances.
Unknown to the doctor and even to herself, Anna suffers from erotomania and having become fixated on him she cannot be reasoned with any more.
Her behavior -now laughable now extremely dangerous- is very well documented and described. Open your medical dictionary and you will realize that all that is shown on the screen corresponds to what is written in the book, notably the evolution of the disease in four stages: illumination, hope, spite and hatred. Likewise, the interview led by the psychiatrist before Anna is discharged from mental hospital rings true. Just like in real life the therapist tries to find out through a series of questions whether the patient can be regarded as cured or if she is faking. And does it with such empathy, such humanity you would never say the scene is being played by ... an actor!
Of course "Anna M" is not in the least a medical documentary for all that.. The story comes first and the writer/director masters it to perfection. After a half-toned beginning tension soon rises and uneasiness sets in never to release its grip until the end, except maybe during the appeased (although ambiguous) final sequence. The climactic scenes (the attempted murder in the subway, Anna with the two little girls, Anna's relapse) are all duly impressive and call to mind prestigious names like those of Hitchcock ("Psycho" and Roman Polanski ("Repulsion"), among others.
Isabelle Carré must be praised for her interpretation, for she is the backbone of the whole effort. Had she not lived up to the spectators'expectations the film would have been a terrible flop even if it had been good in all the other departments. But there was nothing much to fear from such a talented young woman, who is so committed to her art and who has already proved how varied her abilities are ("Les sentiments", "Se souvenir des belles choses", "Holy Lola","Quatre étoiles"). Wholly immersed in her character she is every inch the troubled heroine, in turns sweet, fragile, mean and wild.
I now look forward to seeing Michel Spinosa's next. Will I be disappointed? Time will tell.
And I was not let down. With this film Spinosa proves he has made tremendous progress (to my mind at least). His hand as a director has become firmer and the subject he has picked this time around is both an exciting and accurate depiction of a psychiatric clinical case, erotomania as it happens. He has also chosen Isabelle Carré, the ideal actress for the role.
The whole plot revolves around an attractive young woman named Anna M. (is "M." a reference to Fritz Lang's accursed "hero"?) who suffers from solitude and depression. After failing to kill herself she is brought back to life thanks to the care of Doctor André Zanevsky. She soon falls in love with him, totally disregarding the fact that the man she shamelessly calls André is happily married and remains totally unresponsive to her advances.
Unknown to the doctor and even to herself, Anna suffers from erotomania and having become fixated on him she cannot be reasoned with any more.
Her behavior -now laughable now extremely dangerous- is very well documented and described. Open your medical dictionary and you will realize that all that is shown on the screen corresponds to what is written in the book, notably the evolution of the disease in four stages: illumination, hope, spite and hatred. Likewise, the interview led by the psychiatrist before Anna is discharged from mental hospital rings true. Just like in real life the therapist tries to find out through a series of questions whether the patient can be regarded as cured or if she is faking. And does it with such empathy, such humanity you would never say the scene is being played by ... an actor!
Of course "Anna M" is not in the least a medical documentary for all that.. The story comes first and the writer/director masters it to perfection. After a half-toned beginning tension soon rises and uneasiness sets in never to release its grip until the end, except maybe during the appeased (although ambiguous) final sequence. The climactic scenes (the attempted murder in the subway, Anna with the two little girls, Anna's relapse) are all duly impressive and call to mind prestigious names like those of Hitchcock ("Psycho" and Roman Polanski ("Repulsion"), among others.
Isabelle Carré must be praised for her interpretation, for she is the backbone of the whole effort. Had she not lived up to the spectators'expectations the film would have been a terrible flop even if it had been good in all the other departments. But there was nothing much to fear from such a talented young woman, who is so committed to her art and who has already proved how varied her abilities are ("Les sentiments", "Se souvenir des belles choses", "Holy Lola","Quatre étoiles"). Wholly immersed in her character she is every inch the troubled heroine, in turns sweet, fragile, mean and wild.
I now look forward to seeing Michel Spinosa's next. Will I be disappointed? Time will tell.