Femme Fatale

 Representation of Women

 Femme Fatale

Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946)

• In the traditional sense, femme fatale is part of the conventions of film noir. It is a powerful female character, who is portrayed as a sexual beauty, therefore easy to fall in love with, but only causes trouble for the hero.

Marion Cotillard as Mal in Inception (2010)

• Mal (Inception, 2010)
  
     Meaning of the name: the French noun 'mal' means bad, evil, sickness, trouble, ache and death. The fact that it's the name of the main character's wife, symbolises the danger of being close to her. Her beauty is in contrast with her inner (rather negative) qualities and the suppressed feelings she holds such as her incredible rage and pain.  This duality had been present in many movements of Literature, such in the 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire's masterpiece Les Fleurs du Mal, which was translated to English as The Flowers of Evil (see: http://fleursdumal.org/). We can assume that the French actress, Marion Cottilard, who played Mal's role, was aware of all these facts.

Another strong reference of the French culture is the Edith Piaf song 'Non, je ne regrette rien', which was replayed again and again. The team used it as a catalyst, a sign that reminds them to wake up from a dream. Ironically the infamous French singer had been drifting in and out of consciousness before she died in liver cancer.  Her famous last words were 'Every damn fool thing you do in this life, you pay for'. Which could be a reference for Mal's determination   to take revenge on her husband.

Anne Hathaway plays Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

• Catwoman (The Dark Knight Rises, 2012) The story of Catwoman never clarifies her true nature: sometimes she's a thief, sometimes she saves the day. Undoubtedly an ideal partner for Batman, who himself had trouble with the police and the expectations of the public.

Girl power: the woman who stabbed the heart of Batman

• The strongest appeal of femmes fatales, that men feel (sexually, mentally and sometimes physically) oppressed by them. In comparison, the conventional view of the female gender pictures women as repressed, gentle, dependent, fragile characters. Some men are willing to be seduced and then betrayed by them, as if playing with fire.