Une femme dans la tête

I only just recently caught this fiendishly gripping 80s Ruth Rendell thriller on the telly box, and it proved to be quite brilliant entertainment. Ably produced by the BBC, 'An Affair in Mind' is an engrossing, compellingly acted, smartly written Neo-Noir enlivened by some expert vamping from Amanda Donohoe as sultrily sinuous siren Drusilla Janus. The acclaimed Ruth Rendell novel 'The Face of Trespass' is engagingly adapted by screenwriter Michael Baker. Affable, handsome, appetizingly lithe, yet somewhat Naive scrivener Graham Harston/Gray (Stephen Dillane) enjoys a steamily edifying, increasingly obsessive affair with spoiled, volatile, dazzlingly attractive Dru, the stylish, well-to-do wife of elusive wealthy property developer 'Tiny' (Richard Hammat).

While plainly made for TV, this remains an excitingly erotic mystery with razor-honed twists, tersely dramatic interludes, and a dizzyingly climactic conclusion. In the thrilling final act the increasingly beleaguered, Gray fatefully discovers that his sensual paramour's ardent pillow talk may have been entirely less than ingenuous! Competently directed by, Colin Luke, and along with dishy dynamo Donahoe, one of the more luminous aspects of this captivating thriller is composer, Nigel Hess's terrific score. Fans of the London Underground may appreciate that the pacy thriller features a brief sequence at the rarely-seen "Theydon Bois" Central line station. Undeservedly obscure, 'An Affair in Mind' is ripe for rediscovery, and I'm quite sure that a restored DVD/Blu-ray would be most welcome to a great many vintage mystery fans!

Young and handsome writer Gray falls for the beautiful but married Druscilla (Amanda Donohoe), she wants him to help her murder her rich and apparently controlling husband "Tiny". Gray and Dru are a bit of an odd pairing: he is quiet, lives in a windmill and drives a very modest Citroen 2CV; she on the other hand is strong willed, wealthy and drives a Porsche. Within minutes of first meeting she asks Gray "Would you like to sleep with me?" and before you know it they have booked a room. The lovely Amanda Donohoe is one of my favourite actresses and she was never shy in front of the camera. She does strip off for sex scenes here but they are very tame and just her breasts are visible. This BBC TV movie is based on a Ruth Rendell thriller, set mainly in and around London but part of it also takes place in France. I really enjoyed seeing the fashions and motor vehicles from this period, plus Gray demonstrates his home computer, cutting edge technology in the 1980's but looking very dated now. The acting is very good as is the musical score. I am not going to give away any spoilers but there are some good plot twists near the end. Things don't look good for Gray but the final scene does suggest a glimmer of hope for him, however it is left open and I guess it is up to the viewer to decide what they think may happen. Sometimes this can annoy me, I feel cheated, but in the case I think it works well.

Based on the Ruth Rendell novel, The Face of Trespass.

Gray Harston (Stephen Dillane) is a struggling novelist who offers a lift to Druscilla Janus (Amanda Donohoe) after a literary shindig.

They quickly go on to have a torrid affair. Only Druscilla is married and her wealthy husband Tiny is both very jealous and violent.

Druscilla wants Gray's help for her husband to meet an accidental death. Naive Gray has no idea what is about to hit him.

The penny drops when the police regard him as the main suspect when the body of Tiny is found at his house. Gray was away at his mother's funeral.

Donohoe is fun as the femme fatale but this is a tedious, tepid thriller. The ending is not neat but offers Gray at least some comfort.