Rating: B
Dir: Raul Ruiz
Star: Anne Parillaud, William Baldwin, Lisanne Falk, Graham Greene
Is Parillaud a newly-wed who dreams of being a hit-woman, or the other way round? That’s the core issue in this confusing, yet generally intriguing psycho-thriller, where characters from one side pop up on the other in different roles (Baldwin plays her husband in one, and also a contract target) and there’s very little to clue you in to “reality”. Ruiz seems to have a fondness for dream-like reveries: here, he switches things around like a cinematic version of the three-card trick, and your head will spin.
Parillaud does the schizophrenic babe role well, she’s especially fine as the assassin, having done that sort of thing before, but look out for the freaky conversation with herself. The honeymoon stuff is less enthralling, and takes longer to kick into action — once it established the basic premises, it wanders round without making much ground for a while. Don’t worry, it does all get explained at the end, although I’d need a second viewing before commenting on how credible it is. Pay attention, and you’ll get much more out of this.