A femme fatale is French for ‘deadly woman’. It is a powerful female character used in many Thriller films that gives a sense of class and intrigue by them having irresistible charm that hypnotises men into dangerous situations by using their sexuality. These characters have been used in Thriller films throughout the ages. In the 1940s they were portrayed as beautiful, seductive temptresses who lure men with their charm and sex appeal. For example in ‘Gilda’ (1946, directed by Charles Vidor), the femme fatale was seen as a sex object who was trapped by the males in her life. However in more modern Thriller films such as ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2009, directed by Niels Arden Oplev) and ‘Kill Bill 2’ (2004, directed by Quentin Tarantino) the femme fatale has a different perspective, therefore can stand up for themselves and fight for what they believe in. This development has been because of the change in women's roles in everyday modern life. Women now have careers and so are not reliant on men for anything and would prefer to see a stronger femme fatale rather than one that solely relies on appearance.
When films use a femme fatal there are usually two different outcomes, she either turns into a good housewife or she gets killed for her wrong doings.
There are many femme fatales in Thriller films such as Rita Hayworth in this trailer of the 1946 Noir thriller ‘Gilda’. She is the main character who seduces men and makes them fall in love with her, much to the dismay of Johnny Farrell.
This is an image of the character Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) from Basic Instinct (1992, directed by Paul Verhoeven), she is a femme fatale who uses her sexuality to her advantage to get what she wants. She seduces the Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) to mislead him and distract him from his muder enquiry and from the fact that she murdered her husband. She wears sexy outfits that show a lot of flesh to entice her victims and in the end kill them.
Angelina Jolie plays the part of Fox from the film 'Wanted' (2008, directed by Timur Bekmambetov), she is a modern femme fatale who has tattos and piercings making her look edgy. She's a trained assasin who acts like she's not afraid of anyone or anything. This contrasts Gilda, who is a traditional femme fatale because she is glamorous and portrays the image of a feminine women.
