Review of Passion (2013) by Henrik S — 27 Nov 2014

One of De Palma's finest movies, it's highly underrated. It's funny that a director who used to be great, but now tries to make safe, and less chalenging movie, gets praised constantly, even though he is nowhere near the level he was on during his prime (1973-1995), I'm of course talking about Martin Scorsese. On the other hand a director like De Palma constantly gets bashed when he tries to evolve, take chances and express new things with his style. It seems like the ones that are bashing him now, didn't get him in the first place, calling movies like Femme Fatale and Passion over the top and silly, while forgetting movies like Dressed to Kill and Body Double, both way more ridiculous (though at least Body Double is still a damn good movie).

The aesthetic of Passion alone should earn it at least a decent rating, the cinematography and atmosphere are perfect, the music is also pretty amazing.

But unlike some of De Palma's more forgettable movies, this is not all style, but actually has a lot of character developement, and some interesting themes of love and power and how those relate to each other.

Brian De Palma now has 4 masterpieces Carrie, Blow Out, Femme Fatale and Passion. Add to that a bunch of other fascinating movies like Sisters, Scarface, Casualties of War, Carlito's Way and heck even Mission: Impossible, Body Doule and The Black Dahlia, you got one of the finest directors of our time and perhaps of all time.