Rating: 
Summary: Gripping though elusive hallucinatory trance - drugs helpful
Review:
I absolutely loved watching this movie for the first hour. I disagree with comments slamming the visual style - the slick, over saturated, nervously jumpy, and tremendously atmospheric filming work perfectly to pull us into Diane's growing obsession with (or dependence on?) the over stimulation of the high-tech porn aesthetic. Moody and atmospheric, this film is filled with eye candy ranging from gorgeously detached shots of Tokyo to loving studies of Diane (played by the lovely and here compellingly transformational Connie Nielsen) and even a light smattering (though very light for those of us watching with one hand in our jeans) of hentai and 3-D porn. The movie is completely successful at setting up compelling characters, intrigue, and settings, but as so many other reviews suggest, it does fall apart on story. I spent ninety minutes thrilled, ten minutes just plain confused, and then seventeen minutes disappointed when I realized the film had left not only our reality (which is to be expected) but also its own. It could be argued that we ended up in what was left of Diane's reality but I'm working here to force up a story...the film figuratively and literally leaves us stranded in the desert. There's an unpleasant whiff of pedantic moralizing (the more we become involved with sex, violence, chaos, and objectification the more we...uh...become involved with sex, violence, chaos, and objectification) and a few shrill moments that break the otherwise flawless amoral, multinational, descent-into-helpless (and/or desired) submission to the commerce/sex/violence triad trance of the film, but there's still a lovely, liquid quality to the journey that successfully comes to a boil just a few seconds before evaporating completely.
And it is, overall, worth watching. The cinematographer and director come to the table with powerful visions, the soundtrack is the closest thing to an emotional through line we get, the acting is persuasive and absorbing, and the sets are fascinating and fully actualized. Now, if there had only been a writer involved, we might have really had something here...
Rating: 
Summary: Come on
Review: Well, I just finished watching Demonlover the Director's Cut and read all the reviews here and I didn't see that anyone picked it apart the way I saw it so I'll have to do it myself. A lot people mentioned Lynch. I didn't see that. What I saw was, possibly, a guy who was reworking three of his favorite movies. First was Wages of Fear and the way he used the "three language trans world feel" and the forever throat cutting approach and second was Lost in Translation with that slick, aloof Metro disconnection style of cinematography. You've seen it now in everything from Taxi Driver to The Bourne Identity and a hundred others. Thirdly and most importantly, this is a reworking of Videodrome with a very little bit of eXitenZ thrown in. Instead of seeing from Max's viewpoint though, we're seeing it from Harlan's(I hope I got his name right), Max's assistant. I think it's a less interesting point of view, though. The porn and it's restrictions, the double dealings, things not being what they seem to be, the S&M and subsequent personal involvement in it and even the murder sequence could be compared to one: waking up in bed with the older woman associate and secondly to the assassination (?) of Max's partners. You could even say there's a little Tron there if you look hard enough right at the end. Mostly though, it's Videodrome and if there's any chance you haven't seen it and you happen to think this is a good movie, then you better watch Videodrome and see what great filmmaking is really about.
Now I love Eraserhead, Santa Sangre, Videodrome, The Hudsucker Proxy, Spider, Belle de Jour, Saragosa Manuscript, Fellini's Satyricon, Amores Perros, 21 Grams and any number of complicated, even convoluted movies so when I say I think this is a waste of time it's not because I couldn't follow it. Incidentally, those other movies I mention are all must see films, if you haven't already.
I'll very easily illustrate a simple reason why it's not so good. I've never seen Gina Gershon, no matter how crappy the role was, ever be anything but a joy to watch. I wasn't even sure it was her I was watching. I missed her name in the opening credits and she was so dull I didn't think it was her for a while. In fact I wasn't positive it was her till I read the other reviews. I glanced at the closing credits just long enough to get the name of the star with the bad (b..b) job. And what about the shot of Chloe lying naked on the bed playing video games. Was that just for the director? The description of the sex scene by Inframan is a hoot and is another clear example of poor direction in this trite meandering mess.
The reason I gave it two stars instead of one is it does have enough style to keep you watching and hoping. But it in doing so it becomes pretentious and that's pretty hard to be in these times.
Rating: 
Summary: Criminally Underrated
Review: Admittedly, DEMONLOVER makes a sharp left narrative turn at the halfway point that's going to confound viewers who are intrigued by the straightforward (and extremely absorbing) high-stakes opening. But that's no reason to dismiss the many, many things that writer/director Olivier Assayas gets absolutely right. In the end, DEMONLOVER is a fascinating mirror-world reflection (as William Gibson would call it) of where our global society might be just five minutes from now: the fittest who survive will be multilingual, career-consumed and ridiculously chic, but also soulless, as if missing the gene that supplies a sense of loyalty and ethics. The movie is a cautionary, though entirely plausible, tale of humans debased by their own lust for ungoverned capitalism. Every line of dialogue is about the business merger at hand; in the rare instances where feelings are discussed, they're usually about how *work* affects those emotions. The big wink here is that the characters don't even discuss business honestly, because each has duplicitous motives.Technically, DEMONLOVER is a feast. Denis Lenoir's widescreen photography constantly dazzles -- many of the tracking shots are sustained in close-up (creating paranoia), and the color spectrum appears as if filtered through corporate fluorescence. (The neon-drenched Tokyo sequence is particularly hypnotic.) Jump cuts keep the narrative one step ahead of the audience. Sonic Youth's atonal guitar score creates the same mutant environment that Howard Shore pulled off in CRASH. Most significantly, Connie Nielsen's face (and hair and wardrobe) mesmerizes more than any CGI I've ever seen. Considering the labyrinthine motives of her character, Nielsen's exquisite subtlety may be lost on first-time viewers; on second look, her emotionless gaze speaks volumes. Audiences (and critics) have unanimously attacked the "problematic" second half as an example of directorial self-indulgence. While I agree that it's not as satisfying as the first half, I don't think it's a total crash-and-burn (pardon the spoiler pun). Clearly, the ending is open to thematic interpretation, but I think Assayas is just saying that if our species isn't more careful, we'll end up like one-dimensional characters in a video game of our own devising - sure, winner takes all, but the rest of us suffer enormously. Narrative ambiguity aside, DEMONLOVER is the great Hitchcockian/Cronenbergian espionage fantasia I've been waiting for. It makes sense that it would come from Europe, since Hollywood forgot long ago how to make their assembly-line genre exercises intellectually stimulating. (Like the animé porn within the story, Hollywood movies today represent no more than a calculated corporate commodity.) More than any other film from the last 2½ years, DEMONLOVER seems a product of the post-9/11 world - a not-so-distant future where overwhelming paranoia goads us to preemptively eliminate any form of potential competition before it can do the same to us. And how in doing so, we devour our own tail. I expect this movie's reputation will grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years.
Rating:
Summary: "What A Tangled World Wide Web We Weave"
Review: Connie Nielsen (of GLADIATOR fame) plays the ruthless businesswoman Diane to icy perfection in this oddly compelling internet thriller, DEMONLOVER. Scheming to take control of the high stakes contract from coworker, Karen, Diane dopes her competition in order to gain access to the catbird seat above the glass ceiling at her media company's management. However, the impending merger between her company, a US partner, and some Tokyo affiliates suddenly turns sour when her boss, Volt, discovers that Demonlover -- the internet's most popular Manganese interactive video game -- is secretly a front for "Hell Fire Club," a site dedicated solely to a secret airing of torture against women. Before she can figure out how to save the business, Karen is suddenly pulled deeper and deeper into the mystery in ways that grow more and more disturbing ... until, at last, she questions whether or not she could possibly be connected with the entire affair! The film boasts some great performances. The extras include some quick interviews with major cast members (including Chloe Sevigny) discussing the process of filmmaking. The soundtrack is provided by Sonic Youth, and it blends very well with the subject matter. DEMONLOVER will not be a thriller for everyone, but there's something there for anyone who's interested in giving writer/director Olivier Assayas's yarn a single viewing.
Rating:
Summary: too serious for its own good
Review: DEMONLOVER is a very strange and perhaps willfully obscure film that ultimately collapses under the weight of its own self-seriousness. I suppose the intent is to illustrate how relationships in the corporate world paralell certain kinds of sexual relationships, but your guess is as good as mine.
Connie Nielsen plays a woman working for a French company - her company is trying to acquire a Japanese company which produces adult anime. Nielsen is the servant of (at least) two masters. She's spying for a rival, and at a certain point seems to fall under the control of an American company. (Gina Gershon is fun as the American's representative). It's also implied that Nielsen's character may not be who she appears and is the pawn of SOMEONE ELSE..... the intent is to create a mood of David Lynch-like weirdness but instead it's just confusing. I'm all for being challenged at the movies but this is too much.
Also with Charles Berling as Nielsen's predatory boss, and Chloe Sevigny as an assistant with multiple agendas.
Rating:
Summary: Slow Story, Excellent Visuals...
Review: Demonlover is not for those who are looking for a great story, you won't find it here. What you will find is an excellent cast...and one of the most visually stunning films to come out in a long time. If you take it for what it is, you'll enjoy this film.
Rating:
Summary: A Crapola of a Movie
Review: For those of you who think Demonlover is a horror movie, because the title sounds like it, furrgetit! Demonlover is the title of a Japanese animated series, which like many things has no bearing on the story. I kept waiting and still waiting. Waiting for this movie to make sense. It don't, it never will. Some might think the movie is artsy even engrossing. It is artsy in a way but it's more gross than engrossing. This is obviously a case of one man's treasure is another man's junk. I'm the latter. The story, if you want to call it that, is ostensibly about the perversive influence of pornography on the internet and an unholy competition, no make that battle, between two giants of internet pornography to land a contract/merger? with a Japanese animation company. I didn't see the connection either but apparently the pornographers were interested in the new virtual realty aspect of animation for their purposes. Connie Nielsen plays the part of Diane de Monx, an up and coming executive who is duplicitous in that she is involved in corporate espionage for a competing company, while having the protection of the company CEO CONCLUSION I'm only writing this review because several reviewers gave it a four star rating. This is highly inflated. I'm giving it two stars but only because it did hold my interest til the end.(I kept trying to make sense of it). Oh, one more thing. Did I mentioned that the movie is in French and some Japanese so you get to read enlish subtitles throughout the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Cybercinema for pensive viewers
Review: Forget about trying to follow the plot. It's useless; yet, in a strange way you know exactly what's going on. This isn't about one thing, (no Hollywood connect-the-dots-type of storytelling). The film is about the things that people in high places do for money and power, which is basically anything and everything: from murder to porn to...you name it! The internet-trash-billionaire industry is a backdrop of sorts to explore just how vile and corrupt people can be. These jet setters have one god: money; and they'll kill, cheat and destroy to get it, even if they never "physically" see it. The film could well be an expose of 21st century corporate corruption that has made the headlines so often recently just about everyhwere on the planet. The objective of the game is: move out of the way, I want the power, the money, the glory. Pretty, greedy people. These players have sold their souls to the demon of Mammon, the oldest transaction in the book, but toyed here with expensive computerized gadgets. There's more to this movie than meets the eye. This seems to be a new trend in the cinema: telling one story on the surface, while the "real" movie plays just beneath it. Impatient viewers, forget this one. But if you like an involving, slick, very entertaining flick, try this little masterpiece of cyber-malice.
A most enlightening piece of work. This is the sort of movie that throws the so-called "glamour" of corrupt "high rollers" right into delete, where it belongs. Connie Nielsen has never been better. This is her first, true star-making vehicle.
Rating:
Summary: a futuristic thriller with cutting-edge cinematography.
Review: I really liked this movie and I thought it was very beautiful in a very different way that may be the way of the future.
This fast paced thriller shows the corporate world for what it is: it is an impersonal machine moving on its own, alliances shifting every second, one cannot trust anybody, everybody and everything can be bought and sold, everybody is being watched, privacy is an illusion.
The plot is rather simple, and every new development in it just shows that there is no limit to how low people will go to move up the food chain.
It's interesting that I saw a number of French movies recently with a similar portrayal of the business world: "Read my lips" and "In my skin" come to mind, and they are both great. I guess something is in the French air.
I thought that the cinematography was very sleek - fast moving cameras, lots of close ups reflected the chaotic pace of modern life. The parts of low resolution video created a futuristic feeling of a new world, where you cannot be sure what is real and what is virtual reality.
I really liked Connie Nielsen in the main part; one just cannot keep one's eyes off her. I realized that I saw her before in mediocre films (Devil's advocate and Gladiator) that didn't do her justice. I loved her hair, make-up and clothes in "Demonlover" - they show a very modern, sophisticated, sleek and sassy woman who knows what she is worth, doesn't play weak to attract men, and uses her sex appeal mercilessly.
I thought Gina Gershon was perfectly cast as a high-level business executive from Holliwood, I thought there was so much irony in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than meets the eye
Review: I'll keep this brief, because a long critique would imply that the film is a substantial enough work to require a thorough going over. It isn't. If you're morbidly curious, you'll find plenty of on-line discussants here who have imagined a far more intelligent film than the one I seem to have seen.
The story--and I use that word reluctantly--is about some very, very, very big businesses that are involved in buying and selling. They are promoting, merging, importing, exporting, doubling, tripling, dot-comming in expensive offices with bathtubs.
People must hurry. Everything is important. Secretaries have to run over to Kinkos at 3am to make copies of pie-charts. Do you have the file?? It was supposed to be on my desk an hour ago.
Someone's head will have to roll. We cannot let "Competition, Ltd" get even one whiff. Or one Sniff. Imagine, a sniff for some snuff. People getting porno'd to death:an idea whose time has come and whose come is timed--no one should get more than he's paid for.
Speaking of which, payment that is, the theatrical run of this mess grossed under one million dollars, world-wide. I am only greatful that so few people shelled out money to see it. With so many really good "foreign" and "indie" movies hoping to get a crack at commercial exhibition, we don't want to reinforce the negative impression that many "meat and potatoes" film-goers have of anything that doesn't carry the USDA seal.
Thank you for allowing me to vent, and believe me I'm happy that there's a whole bunch of us who are starved for some real Substance and Beauty. We may disagree sharply over a particular film, but together we have let the film industry know that there's actual money to be made from "Art".
Cecil-B
North Wales, PA
USA
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