The Fantasy of the Femme Fatale

A documentary titled "Le fantasme de la femme fatale" (The Fantasy of the Femme Fatale), directed by Susanne Brand, is available on Arte.tv. The film traces the visual history of the femme fatale, a seductive and dangerous figure prevalent in centuries of figurative painting by male artists like Gustave Moreau and Franz Von Stuck, often depicted as Salome or languid nymphs.

The documentary marks a significant shift by examining how female artists, from the suffragette era to #MeToo, have reclaimed this trope. Artists such as Ulrike Rosenbach, Evelyne Axell, and Regina Götz are reappropriating the motif with humor and provocation, transforming the femme fatale from a male fantasy into a subject of female empowerment and artistic agency.