52 Films by Women Vol 9. 41. Vie Privée (A Private Life) (Director: Rebecca Zlotowski)
Pictured : Dr Lilian Steiner ( Jodie Foster ) searches index files in a scene from the French language mystery, ' Vie Privée ', co-written with Anne Berest and Gaëlle Macé and directed by Rebecca Zlotowski . Still courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics (US). In a film about a suspected murder, you can’t get more on the nose than blasting your audience with ‘Psycho Killer’ by Talking Heads during the opening credits. That’s how director Rebecca Zlotowski begins her film, Vie Privée , a mystery drama that features American star Jodie Foster in her first French speaking role since Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004). Foster plays American expatriate psychiatrist Dr Lilian Steiner, who at the film’s start complains to her upstairs neighbour about his loud music (the aforementioned song). Lilian is expecting a patient, Paula (Virginie Efira), who subsequently doesn’t turn up. Lilian leaves her a message. ‘I’ll have to charge you,’ she explains none too sympathetically. Sh...