Film Reviews

Anna M.

• Rating:
• Director: Michel Spinosa
• Starring: Anne Consigny
• Details: France / 106mins (15)

Unbeknownst to herself, Anna (Carre) is in the grips of depression and she finally snaps, stepping out into traffic. It's a cry for help that lands her in hospital and the caring hands of the handsome Dr. Zanevsky (Melki). Anna becomes immediately infatuated and dreams up a whirlwind romance with him, but her infatuation turns to obsession quickety-quick and Zanevsky feels he has nowhere to turn when Anna's increasingly threatening behaviour becomes too much to handle on his own. How far will Anna take it? Further than Zanevksy ever thought. It's hard to watch Anna M and not think about Fatal Attraction, but where Adrian Lyne's thriller was seen through the eyes of Michael Douglas, writer-director Michel Spinosa takes the opposite approach and dives into the psyche of Anna, drawing parallels between religion and obsession. 'Dives' is the wrong word, as we never get to know Anna other than she's mentally deranged and in need of some serious psychiatric help, and the religious aspect feels tacked on and hurried. It's also unclear who Spinosa wants us to root for - the doctor or the patient? Certainly it would seem he's on Anna's side as she's in almost every scene, but her actions dictate that his allegiance lies elsewhere. The film would be a pointless exercise if it weren't for Carre's mesmerising performance. She does more than Spinosa's script allows - there's more going on in her eyes than her character's actions.

Review by Gavin Burke