Chrysalis

All connoisseurs and other snobs know that between 1960 and 1980 French cinema was miles ahead of Hollywood. Directors like Melville knew that they could not compete on special effects etcetera because of the smaller budgets. They took the only possible course: do what Hollywood doesn't dare to do. Chrysalis breaks the Hollywood conventions as well and still stands firm in the French tradition. The pale colours remind us of classics like Le Samourai; the Hoffmann character could have been played by Alain Delon in his heydays. Dialogues are minimalistic and therefor highly effective. The two story lines first are independent and gradually merge. Montage between the two is brilliant; every scene makes you longing for the next one. Only halfway the meaning of the opening scene is partly revealed; only near the end you will understand it fully. So some patience and a bigger attention span than average is demanded - and rewarded. The movie has two weak points. First of all there is the plot. Probably I am not fair, but I find it hard to accept the plots of Robocop and Terminator as well. Never will movies like that get more than 8 stars. Second I find the Hoffmann character not that convincing anymore after his "accident". Don't take my criticism too hard. Deviating from the Hollywood norm involves risks so should be praised. Chrysalis is highly entertaining and intriguing, unless you prefer the standard, brainless and predictable stuff. And never I have seen such cold scenery.

This one of the bluest movies I've ever seen. You thought "Sleepy Hollow" was blue? You thought Soderbergh's "Solaris" was blue? Well hang on to your bonnet because this movie makes them look like "The Wizard of Oz". If you're looking for a blue movie then look no further than "Chrysalis".

Set in a tense future, Paris in the year 2025, this film is very stylish and gritty. The director sought to create a future vision that's not quite dystopian yet definitely not full of rainbows & unicorns. It is a very claustrophobic, psychological story that progresses on 2 levels. The first level is the straightforward action/thriller/scifi part: a rogue Paris cop is hunting down the killer who ruined his life. The 2nd level is a very human (yet equally tense) story about a woman who is reconnecting with her daughter after a terrible accident which caused the girl to have amnesia. Confounding at first, it is interesting to see how these two seemingly distant stories come together.

A well-written story and good script give all the actors a chance to shine as each plays the role of a deeply complex character. We have the main hero, a tough guy of few words, who is coming to grips with his ruined life as well as the realization of what a monster he has become. His female partner is a rookie, entering the story as a naïve kid who got the job only because her uncle is a big honcho, but ultimately she develops a forceful personality of her own. The mother in the 2nd story is very cryptic, and you don't know what drives her, or if she's a good person or bad person, until the end. And the daughter whose confused & innocent portrayal of a person struggling to regain her identity had me riveted in every scene.

So, yes, you could approach this as a straightforward scifi-action-crime-thriller, or you could also see it as a story of people finding--or rather, choosing--whom they want to be. And there you have it, all wrapped up in a nice, stylish ribbon. A blue ribbon of course.

I knew very little from this movie before seeing it and was very pleasantly surprised. The actors and the direction are great, while the art direction is stunning. There are two disappointing cases of main characters having the stupid but apart from that the scenario is pretty solid too.

I'm pretty disappointed not to be hearing about this movie a little more because it definitely deserves more recognition than it is getting now.

Overall this movie is a great blend of drama and awesome action scenes while also having a fair bit of humor, and I would heartily recommend it to any movie-goer. It's also nice to see Guy Lecluyse getting some scenes for those who've heard about him, I thought he was great in that role.

This film, while not Oscar material, is a very solid sci-fi/crime thriller. It may seem to weaken itself slightly because it never really sets foot solidly in either camp but instead treads the line carefully between a quite plausible sci-fi plot and a crime/action story. Nonetheless, it is several cuts above the normal indy fare and rises even above some of Hollywood's efforts.

It has fine acting, outstanding sets, great action sequences and editing. The dualistic nature of the plot is well conceived and revealed sparingly; there are some nice twists and surprises along the route and it never bogs down. (Of course, for myself, I would have been content spending the entire 94 minutes happily watching only Mélanie Thierry's face but that's just me... ;-)

Seriously, give it a spin - you won't consider it a wasted 90 minutes if you like crime/sci-fi and great art direction in an intimate setting without loads of CGI; just be aware it's not a major undertaking like the Terminator or Matrix series - but if you don't need quite that much excitement to be entertained - it's very satisfying .

This is a stylish french sci-fi movie. After a murder, a policemen has his memory where his wife gets killed. Unfortunately another investigation leads him to the same killer. Another parallel story is one of a young women you is locked in a hospital and gets some odd treatment to get some memory erased.

The story has some rough edges although the global plot is quite interesting. Most actors do a great job, although some are a little too frenchy. The most interesting part of the movie is the directions and all details. Fighting scenes are gripping, and the futuristic details give a great sense of realism. You really buy his 2025 Paris, the futuristic operations at the hospital.

Despite details of the story, this movie is very entertaining and has style.