Killing Zoe

Killing Zoe played in Seattle theaters for exactly one week in August of 1994 and I managed to see it twice.Everything about this movie worked for me: the writing, the cinematography,the acting, the editing and the music. From the first images rushing through the streets of Paris until the blood-soaked climax, I was mesmerized. I consider myself lucky to have seen it in theaters with a good sound system becauseI have queried friends who have seen it on video and they had a completely different opinion of the film because they had missed key lines of dialog that really go a long way towards investing Killing Zoe with a certain quintessentially 90s vibe of doomed heroin-soaked romanticism, giving it deeper levels than most people are willing to admit.

This is another good french movie,I must say that I am surprised that France make so many good movies.This movie has a simple plot about gang who is planning on robbing France national bank.You can say that the movie is devided into two parts, the first is the preparations and the wild night before the bank job.And the the second half of the movie is of the actual robbery.This movie has some scenes that you usually dont see in most movies,I am talking about brutal killing and a cool little sex scene.One reason why this movie turned out the way it did, must have been that they got Quentin Tarantino as their executive producer.And we all know the amount of violence that are in his movies. This is an entertaining movie to watch,but maybe a little brutal for some people.And look out for Jean-Hugues Anglade,he has a powerful way of acting that gets you focused,really cool actor. An other thing about this movie,is that it is not very known,so if you see it, I advice you to buy or rent it because it is quit rare.

This is a movie that you just happen upon one day without knowing what it is about but figure the name allows at least 10 minutes just for curiosity. Than it hooks you! Imagine Eric Stolz an American in Paris so to speak A reunion is to take place with his old friend. Sounds sweet? Well their friendship is anything but normal as the two lead men are.They embark on a nonstop wild trip to pull off a heist and lets say that this is one very bad acid trip of a gig. Stolz is initiated to who his crew will be and if he survives the night before the job, the rest lets say is a piece of quiche. This gritty almost can smell the stench in the air French great independent film is very much worth watching for there is never a moment of calm. Does Zoe get killed ? Who is Zoe? I thought Jean-Hugues Anglade was absolutely captivating as the totally violent drug crazed Eric. This is an actor that just really should get more work. He monopolizes every scene. I thought it was one of the coolest films and I just fell upon it. I have watched it several times since. It's definitively one to look into. It holds up against alot big budget action films with a dirty thrilling heart pounding rhythm mixed with excellent writing and cast.

Zed (Eric Stoltz) has only just arrived in the beautiful Paris and already he is up to no good. Having just slept with a call girl (Julie Delpy), he spends a night on the town with his dangerous friends. They all decide to rob a bank the following day. There is only one problem: Zed's call-girl, Zoe, just happens to work at the bank which is to be robbed! I believe this film comes from the same guy who wrote "Pulp Fiction", and the similarities are evident. Although the first half is a strange romance-turned-heist, the film gets increasingly violent as it carries on. This is very much the same style as "Pulp Fiction". (Both also feature Eric Stoltz.) Julie Delpy is interesting here. Although she is more or less reduced to a secondary character, it is interesting how she was something of the "it girl" as far as French women in American movies were concerned. She was not the first or the last, but it seems that at any given time there is always one French actress who is the standard for appearing in American films.

Compared to the endless tiresome shoot-em-ups like the Schwarzeneggar--Stallone--Seagal type flicks, this movie shows style, class, and sensuality. A tense, edge-of-your-seat movie where for a change you DON'T know how it's going to end. The only flaw in the film is that it has a very low-budget quality with no real scenes outside in France, except at the very beginning at the airport. Everything else looks done in some studio with a few scenic shots tossed in, like a tv show that can't really go abroad and look authentic. But this movie is well worth renting--and beats 90% of the manufactured, formula plastic films next to it on the video shelf. An 8.5 out of 10.