Ellektra

Movie Information

Score:

Genre: Drama
Director: Rudolf Mestdagh
Starring: Gert Portael, Catherine Kool, Axelle Red
Rated: NR

This film festival award-winner from first-time feature filmmaker Rudolf Mestdagh is quite a remarkable work. Despite its title, it has no relation to the similarly named comic book, nor to Mr. Strauss’ opera (though the film does reference Sophocles at one point). Rather, it’s a multi-storied tale done in an audaciously fragmented style that will call to mind such things as Crash and Syriana, but which uses that approach to somewhat different ends, with a frequently more playful touch.

Mestdagh has style to spare. His film is a constant treat visually — almost to the point of overkill. Ellektra sometimes feels too full of itself, as if the director sensed he had this one chance to prove himself, so he threw in everything he could. Even so, the film is never dull, and always fascinating in its examination of a guilt-ridden ex-junkie (Gert Portael) who is given a chance to clear a debt with a dealer (Serge-Henri Valcke) if she will locate his missing daughter, Ellen (Catherine Kools). An unexpectedly compelling treat. Not rated, but contains nudity, violence, language and drug use.

— reviewed by Ken Hanke

SHARE
About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.