''Passion'' is a 2012

erotic thriller The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or erotic fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain in ...

film written and directed by

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

, starring

Rachel McAdams Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre degree program at York University in 2001, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film ''Perfect Pie'' (200 ...

and

Noomi Rapace Noomi Rapace (; ; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.Karen Olsson, ''The New York Times Magazine'', 27 May 2012, p. 26. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the ''Mil ...

. It is an English-language remake of

Alain Corneau Alain Corneau (7 August 1943 – 30 August 2010) was a French film director and writer. Corneau was born in Meung-sur-Loire, Loiret. Originally a musician, he worked with Costa-Gavras as an assistant, which was also his first opportunity to work ...

's 2010 thriller film ''

Love Crime Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love ...

'', but with the ending greatly altered. The film is an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

between France and Germany. The film was selected to compete for the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

at the

69th Venice International Film Festival The 69th annual Venice International Film Festival, organized by Venice Biennale, took place at Venice Lido from 29 August to 8 September 2012. The festival opened with the Indian director Mira Nair's ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'', and clos ...

Plot

Christine, an American advertising executive working in Germany, is working with her protégé Isabelle on an ad campaign for a new

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

. Isabelle, who is secretly having an affair with Christine's boyfriend Dirk, comes up with a well-received marketing idea. When Christine claims it as her own, Isabelle is disappointed but reconciles with her boss when Christine shares the story of how her twin sister died. At the urging of her loyal assistant Dani, Isabelle uploads a self-made version of her ad to the web, where it goes viral. Angered at the attention Isabelle has received, Christine vows revenge, taunting her with a

sex tape Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is made porn that seeks to em ...

which Isabelle had made with Dirk. After an angry Isabelle crashes her car in the company's parking garage, Christine shares the security footage with the rest of the company, humiliating Isabelle who spirals into a depression and begins abusing pills. Christine tries to get Dani fired and then threatens Isabelle with a letter she typed on Isabelle's computer vowing revenge. After Christine is found dead, Isabelle is arrested and confesses to the murder while in a drug-induced stupor. Based on her confessions, the revenge note, and fibres matching a scarf which Isabelle was seen wearing, the police charge her with murder. However, they drop the charges when they discover someone who saw Isabelle at the ballet that night and when Dani discovers Isabelle's scarf, undamaged, in her apartment. The police learn that Dirk, who was in the neighbourhood at the time of the murder, had been embezzling money and Christine discovered this. When they find a bloody scarf in his car they arrest him. Eventually, it is revealed that Isabelle had murdered Christine, and set everything up to convince everyone that she was having a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

while framing Dirk for the crime. Dani, who is secretly in love with Isabelle, reveals that she had captured Isabelle on video at various moments during the night of the murder. Dani then tries to

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

Isabelle into becoming her lover. That night, Isabelle has a strange dream where she strangles Dani after being seduced by her, but not before Dani sends the video incriminating Isabelle to the investigating detective. Suddenly, Christine's twin sister appears and strangles Isabelle from behind with a bloodstained scarf. The next moment, Isabelle wakes up in her own bedroom from her nightmare only to face a new one with Dani lying dead at the foot of her bed.

Cast

as Christine Stanford *

as Isabelle James *

Karoline Herfurth Karoline Herfurth (; born 22 May 1984) is a German actress. Life and career Herfurth was born in East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of a psychologist mother and a geriatric nurse practitioner father. Her parents divorced when she was tw ...

as Dani * Paul Anderson as Dirk Harriman *

Rainer Bock Rainer may refer to: People * Rainer (surname) * Rainer (given name) Other * Rainer Island, an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia * 16802 Rainer, an asteroid * Rainer Foundation, British charitable organisation See also * Rainier (disambiguation ...

as Inspector Bach *

Benjamin Sadler Benjamin Sadler (born Benjamin Klimaschewski; 12 February 1971) is a German actor. Biography Sadler was born in Toronto, Canada, the son of a German graphic designer and a British teacher. He lived in Canada until he was five. In 1976 he move ...

as Prosecutor * Michael Rotschopf as Attorney Isabelle * Max Urlacher as Jack *

Dominic Raacke Dominic Raacke (born 11 December 1958) is a German actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his performance as Till Ritter in ''Tatort''. He appeared in more than seventy films since 1981. Selected filmography References External links ...

as J.J. Koch

Production

was cast as Isabelle after De Palma ran into a director in New York who was interested in having Rapace in his film. The director gave De Palma some of Rapace's Swedish films, and De Palma was impressed by Rapace's performances. He saw

' performance in ''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. The film stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (in her film debut), Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Fe ...

'' and decided to cast her as Christine. For the film, De Palma had initially written a sequence inspired by ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltr ...

'' (2010), saying "I had this incredibly complicated commercial based on ''Inception'' with three dreams on top of each other, they finally get to the vault and there's the phone. It was elaborate and some of my director friends looked at this and said, 'Come on! Get rid of that ''Inception'' thing. Do something else ... I said, 'I love this ''Inception'' thing.' De Palma ended up discarding the idea. The film was shot in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Notable landmarks included the

DZ Bank building The DZ Bank building (formerly DG Bank building) is an office, conference, and residential building located at Pariser Platz 3 in Berlin. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry and engineered by Hans Schober of Schlaich Bergermann & Partner. ...

. De Palma used

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

to shoot the film.

Release

''Passion'' screened in competition at the

in September 2012. Metrodome, the film's UK distributor, sent the film straight to DVD and video on demand, stating that: "Brian De Palma has an in-built fan base, but a genre like this can be difficult to release theatrically. It's a turbulent theatrical market and we felt this was the best way to launch the film to UK audiences."

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 33% based on 76 reviews, and an

average rating In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "For better as well as worse, ''Passion'' is vintage Brian De Palma sexploitation — although with a storyline sillier than most, it fails to generate as much heat as his steamiest work."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

calculates a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on the opinions of 22 critics, signifying "mixed or average reviews". Robert Bell of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' rated the film 8 out of 10, writing: "It's just unfortunate that those unfamiliar with the director's work will have absolutely no context for the abstract and oblique tonal shifts or the references, leaving them to dismiss the film as terrible." Eric Kohn of

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

gave the film a "B" grade and Alan Pyke of

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...

gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars. Peter Sobczynski of

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

.com gave the film a four-star rating, calling it "a spellbinding thriller", and DePalma "one of the great seducers of cinema". Neil Young of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' reviewed the film negatively, commenting that "the impression is that De Palma is indulging himself with homages to his own

Hitchcockian Hitchcockian films are those made by various filmmakers, with the styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock. Characteristics Elements considered Hitchcockian include: *Climactic plot twist. *The cool platinum blonde. *The presence ...

greatest hits, with results that veer close to self-parody on occasion and emphasize just how far this once-outstanding director's creative star has plummeted." Robert Abele of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the film a "sleekly trashy misfire". Ed Gonzalez of

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Bruce DeMara of ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, describing the film as "a pale imitation of the auteur's best work". Brian Clark of

Twitch Film Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

published a mixed review, while Ben Sachs of ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' wrote a favorable review, noting that De Palma interweaves themes such as corporate power, advertising, sexual desire, sadomasochistic relationships, and longing for love with a musicality comparable to his visual style. Calum Marsh of ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' writes: "What makes ''Passion'' such a distinctively modern take on the now-antiquated erotic thriller is that it has a keen sense of humor about itself".

Box office

Released in fourteen theatres, ''Passion'' was positioned in 54th place at the box office during the weekend of its release, with a corresponding total revenue of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

33,400—after four weeks, the film's total takings were US$92,181. As of 26 September 2013, ''Passion'' garnered a total of US$1,301,226 in ticket receipts outside of the US, while the cumulative global box office revenue for the film was US$1,393,407.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Passion 2012 films 2012 LGBT-related films 2012 psychological thriller films 2012 thriller drama films 2010s erotic drama films 2010s erotic thriller films 2010s German-language films 2010s mystery drama films 2010s mystery thriller films English-language French films English-language German films Erotic mystery films Films directed by Brian De Palma Films scored by Pino Donaggio Films set in Germany Films set in London Films shot in Berlin French erotic drama films French erotic thriller films French LGBT-related films French mystery thriller films French psychological thriller films French thriller drama films German erotic drama films German erotic thriller films German LGBT-related films German mystery thriller films German psychological thriller films German thriller drama films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related thriller drama films Mystery film remakes Remakes of French films Thriller film remakes 2010s French films 2010s German films