Written and directed by François Ozon, co-written by Philippe Piazzo, Paris, France, 1935, and a young actress has just been acquitted of murdering a famous French Producer. However, this is where the story just begins. Is she really innocent? Or has she gotten away with Murder? Starring: Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Rebecca Marder, Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini, Dany Boon and André Dussollier.
Considering the modern obsession with true crime, it’s interesting to see François Ozon turn that on its head with The Crime is Mine and it become the idea of who didn’t commit the murder rather than who did. Ozon and Philippe Piazzo capture that fervent, unquenchable energy which comes with the search for the truth and interpret through classically fast and furious French dialogue.
It never takes a break, its incessant and filled with tonnes of personality. It’s also a surprisingly relevant story, given that it’s based on a play that was actually written in the 1930s. Dipping into sexual harassment, relationships, fame and greed, it all pretty perfectly comes back to issues of today.
All of that personality is in no small part due to the wonderful trio of actresses at the forefront, Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Rebecca Marder and Isabelle Huppert. While Huppert may not appear until later in The Crime is Mine, anyone who’s ever watched anything she’s been in will know she’s the life of the party, everything is improved when she steps on the scene.
So, while Tereszkiewicz and Marder are great, their friendship works really well and they have a good yin and yang energy going, Huppert brings things together more strongly. Especially as she brings such a note of sincerity, her character may be wildly extravagant and melodramatic but it’s perfectly convincing.
That’s something that The Crime is Mine struggles with, the 1930s setting never feels entirely real. That theatrical origin mixed with the haughty tone makes it have an edge of the artificial, it all feels too intentional and never particularly natural. While the costumes and makeup work are undoubtedly excellent, the aesthetic is lacking. There’s something to the cinematography that’s somewhat dull and the direction lacks a personality to match that of its tone and characters. There’s unfortunately a forced quality to the way it moves, that’s holding it back from being fun and sporadic.
The Crime is Mine is a really enjoyable story, with a quick pacing and a lot of personality but its visual lets it down. There’s a lot of potential, particularly when you’ve got great actresses leading the way, Huppert never disappoints but it can’t quite live up to that. It’s still absolutely worth watching, just a shame to not see it knock this one out of the park, given how relevant this story is to today.
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