Theatrical release poster
by Peter J. O'Connell
Personal Shopper. Released (USA): March 2017. Runtime: 105 mins. In English, French, and Swedish. MPAA Rating: R for some language, sexuality, nudity and a bloody violent image.
Personal Shopper, written and directed by Olivier Assayas, is a mix of intertwined genres. It begins as what at first seems a traditional, and quite spooky, ghost story. Maureen (Kristen Stewart), a young American woman living in Paris, wanders through a mouldering mansion at night. There are scary sounds, and an ectoplasmic entity appears to be manifesting itself. It turns out that Maureen's fraternal twin brother has died recently, of a congenital heart defect that Maureen also has, and the mansion is the now-abandoned home where they both were raised and that Maureen is trying to sell. The twins felt that they were “mediums,” and each pledged to contact the other from “beyond” within three months of dying. Maureen says several times that she is “waiting” for that contact.
While waiting, Maureen is working. She is working as a “personal shopper” for an obnoxious model/ designer, who sends her around Paris and to foreign cities to buy clothes and accessories for her. Maureen sometimes surreptitiously dons those garments for a while, but the fashion world is a poor fit for her. Her heart is not in it.
The sort-of-satire of the fashion world blends into a sort of Hitchcockian techno-thriller when, on her way to London on a buying mission, Maureen begins receiving strange messages on her digital device from an “Unknown.” Sometimes the Unknown questions her, sometimes dialogues with her, and, most frightening of all, sometimes just sends a “receipt” that her message has been “read” but will not be replied to. Who—or what—is the Unknown, and what is the connection with a murder that takes place?
These various plot threads are not necessarily nicely tied up at the conclusion of the film, but they are held together by the fine performance of Stewart. Her grief-stricken, alienated Maureen is a woman who has put her own life on hold while waiting and working for others. Often blank-faced, she nevertheless emanates an aura of deep emotion. Perhaps more than being a personal shopper, she is someone who is subconsciously “shopping” for a persona, a distinct identity of her own. This intriguing film takes us on that psychological shopping trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment