L'Immortelle

The first feature directed by nouveau roman writer and film-maker Robbe-Grillet (who had scripted Resnais' Last Year in Marienbad), this is a characteristically fragmented mystery-romance set in Istanbul. The arty narrative is occasionally irritating, and one could easily argue that the images of the elusive femme fatale in underwear and bondage are misogynist; but there is no denying the film's extraordinary creation of that strange, unsettling atmosphere one encounters in a foreign and labyrinthine city.