I recently saw this at the 2008 Palm springs International Film Festival. This is the story of Anna M (Isabelle Carré), a young and lovely manuscript restorer at the national library in Paris, who develops a fatal attraction to the handsome married Dr. Andre Zanevsky (Gilbert Melki). Anna one day decides to commit suicide by walking into oncoming traffic and is severely injured as a result of being struck by car. While hospitalized she develops a crush on her doctor which upon her release develops into a dangerous delusional disorder called erotomania where she believes the doctor is deeply in love with her which leads to her pursuit and harassment and stalking of him. The film divided into four chapters which represent the four stage of erotomania, Illumination, Hope, Disappointment and Hatred. The four chapters may also represent the film goers four stages of experiencing this film. The premise of the film's story is good and full of possibilities but it ultimately becomes so far-fetched and implausible that it never delivers as either a psychological thriller or a study into mental illness. The doctor can never convince the police that this woman represents a dangerous threat to he and his wife. He is after all a respected surgeon and Anna M. is a woman with a history of mental illness. She just tried to kill herself and at one point in the film her mother recognizes that Anna is losing her grip on reality and comments that "it's happening again" so she must have a history of mental instability even before the attempted suicide. She simply resumes her life after the suicide attempt and as she escalates her harassment of Zanevsky and his wife the police take Anna's side. Anna gets a job as a nanny for tow young girls in the apartment above the Zanevsky's without any references or background checks or employment resumé and immediately begins her final stage of stalking the doctor from her on site vantage point. Carré plays the role in such a one-dimensional way that you are left not really caring about the character and would just like to see her locked up somewhere for along time getting the help she needs. The ending is so ambiguous that you don't know if she's dreaming it up or not and is certainly an unsatisfactory conclusion to the story. Michel Spinosa writes and directs this film that looks good and has a lot of possibilities but falls short. I would give this a 6.0 out of 10.
