HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT: DVD

SYNOPSIS:
Angelique (Audrey Tautou) is house sitting in Bordeaux and she is on top of the world. She and Loïc (Samuel Le Bihan), a handsome cardiologist, are mad about each other. He is soon going to leave his lawyer wife Rachel (Isabelle Carré) and she is starting to get recognition for her paintings, after winning a prestigious scholarship. But when Loïc starts to ignore her, Angelique starts to send him flowers, messages and presents with the help of fellow art student David (Clément Sibony) who is secretly in love with her. Then it is time for revenge.

Review by Louise Keller:
The exquisitely beautiful Audrey Tautou made this beguiling thriller the year after Amélie and before The Spanish Apartment and Dirty Pretty Things. It's about love, obsession and revenge and Tautou bewitches us from the very first scene in which we see her surrounded by roses in a flower shop. Of course, she is more beautiful than any rose and the scene is unforgettable. But it is unforgettable for more than its cinematic poetry, as we later discover. There's a dark edge to this film and one which leaves a considerable impact. It's mysterious, engaging and romantic before doing a sudden U-turn, when it takes us into thriller territory. The film's surprises are as memorable as the fragrance of a rose.

When we meet Tautou's Angelique in the flower shop, she is purchasing a single rose. It is a gift and soon we meet the man who is the object of her affection: Samuel Le Bihan's handsome cardiologist, Loïc. We get a glimpse of Angelique's life. She is a talented art student, who has just won a scholarship and is house sitting a large and comfortable home for a family who has gone abroad. Her obsession for Loïc is clear. It does not seem to matter that he has a wife (Isabelle Carré) who is expecting a baby. Nor does it matter that her best friend Héloïse (Sophie Guillemin) tries to discourage her. She is oblivious to the fact that her art student colleague David (Clément Sibony) is madly in love with her and willing to do anything for her. Paris looks gorgeous and so does Tautou. But Angelique does not follow the rules and has her own specific view about everything. The first inkling of trouble comes on the night of Loïc's birthday, when Angelique is stood up. It is unthinkable and she begins to behave irrationally.

The first half of the film tells the story from Angelique's point of view and one that emphasises the first part of the (English) title. The second part is from Loïc's point of view and comes as a revelation. It is from a different angle and so are the camera angles as the man who specialises in matters of the heart, takes care of business. Writer director Laetitia Colombani inadvertently allows the film to dip towards the end as obsession and paranoia take hold and spirals out of control. Nonetheless, it's a haunting work and one that grips our emotions from that first moment among the roses.

Published February 26, 2009