In the footsteps of Eve

This is basically a list of femme fatales, but not the most conventional kind, since we find the traditional femme fatale - type female characters rather one-dimensional. It is interesting to notice that in older films these female characters were often the only women to hold any kind of power over their own fate, which then led to their inevitable downfall, because c'mon, back then it was absolutely unacceptable that a woman with questionable moral character wouldn't have any consequences from her "evil-doing". We like intricate femme fatales, with more versatile motives than simply being evil, although we have a few of those on our list as well. These women could be classified as "other", not part of any decent women-folk or any kind of respectable group, and they often live in an environment that is antagonistic towards them and demonizes them, which in turn strengthens their resolve to be more callous and manipulative in order to survive in the hostile society that oppresses them. We didn't want to choose women whose only purpose was to be deceitful with nefarious intentions, because frankly, we don't find that interesting, so no Sharon Stone here. These women are also characters we relate to, so we guess that goes to show in the words of Tori Amos: "there are nine inch nails and fascist panties tucked inside every nice girl's heart". 

1. Milady de Winter in The Musketeers. God damn it if this lady was not the best thing about this whole damn show! Granted, she starts off as a pretty conventional femme fatale, since her motivation is revenge, but her character gets way more complex in the second season (where the show should have ended, by the way). She is MUCH improved from the source material, which treated her horribly and made her a rather boring villain in the end. It is kind of ironic that this show, which is male-centric and was written to revive traditional heroism, introduced one of the best and most interesting anti-heroes we've ever seen.

  

2. Bree Daniels in Klüte. She uses sex, which is a very traditional weapon for femme fatales, to get what she wants, but then it's shown that her relationship to sex is much more complicated, because she is deeply affected by her actions. She is a surprisingly relatable character, despite her using of other people. 

3. Catwoman in Batman Returns. Again, she has the traditional "revenge"- motif that femme fatales frequently are given, but her character has other dimensions, like wreaking havoc and doing whatever makes her feel good, which gives her a more compelling persona.

4. Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity. Right, this character is the one true, traditional femme fatale that we included in this list. Because, Barbara Stanwyck. She's amazing and it is only because of her that we're convinced of Phyllis' villainy. One must also remember that her story is told from a man's narrative, so it's no wonder we don't really get to know her motives or character all that well.

5. Amy Dunne in Gone Girl. A lot of femme fatales do exhibit some forms of sociopathy and this character is no exception. This film is one of the rare cases where the woman gets her way or in a way wins, without repercussions. Whether that is good or bad is up for a debate.

6. Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons. First of all, Glenn Close rules. She plays a quite traditional cruel scheming lady, but what we found intriguing, is the film depicting how patriarchy at that time could drive a woman of independent spirit to do horrible things in order to preserve her self-determination.  

7. Sylvia in Parade's End. God, did this series annoy us! But more on that in a later blog post. The reason why she behaves like a femme fatale is uncommon and it makes her all the more enjoyable as a character. It's a shame that they sort of ruined her character in the end of the show.

8. Gilda in Gilda.  Here she's the one that plays the part of femme fatale, but who isn't actually one. She deserved much better than what she got. Again, this story is told by the male character's voice, so she gets somewhat of an unfair portrayal.

9. Lynn Bracken in L.A. Confidential. She's a minor character, so we don't get to know her as well as some other women on this list, but Kim Basinger's portrayal is sympathetic enough. Also, we love her character design. She's pretty much the only woman in a male-centric world, which is where you normally find these femme fatale characters.

10. Kate in East of Eden. This time we went with the television series, since the mother in the movie isn't a femme fatale. We haven't read the book, but the show definitely does not paint her in a positive light in the least. She's a very cruel person and as close to a villain as Phyllis, maybe even more so. The time period helps to explain some of her behaviour, like with Marquise de Merteuil.

  

11. Rayna Boyanov in Spy. She's the most hilarious entry on this list, and man, does Rose Byrne squeeze absolutely every femme fatale cliché possible from her character. It's a joy to watch.

12. Megara in Hercules. Right, she isn't really a femme fatale in the strictest sense of the phrase, but she does have ulterior motives and more ambiguous morals, especially considering it's Disney. Frankly, we're amazed that such a risque female character ever saw the light of day in a Disney film. Of course, she conforms in the end (because Disney), but we still really like her character.