Style icon: Emmanuelle Seigner in Polanski's Frantic 1988

Slightly off-tangent from my usual posts, this entry is a tribute to a film that, after three hours of restless insomnia last night, I so happened to stumble upon. Indiana.J hunk Harrison Ford plays the protagonist in Frantic, whose wife is abducted during their romantic French vacation and soon finds himself lured into the Parisian underworld of crime, drugs and espionage in his attempt to find her.

Befitting to it's name, the plot is exciting and full of twists and turns. Put simply - it's definitely one to watch. Even more worth watching than the film itself however is it's leading lady - Emmanuelle Seigner - who I believe is possibly the most underrated style icon of cinematic history. I will explain:

Emmanuelle (or 'Michelle' as she is known in the movie) plays the part of a native drug dealer and the ultimate femme fatale who helps Ford on his quest of tracking down his wife around the back streets of Paris. Clad in an over-sized leather jacket, monster silver hoops, red lipstick and smoky eyeshadow, she oozes effortless sexuality that make men fall in love with her and women want to be her. Her punk-rock inspired look provides that all-important dose of French chic mixed with a tough, rough, street-style aloofness as if to insist upon her deviance from defined social paradigms. Despite the cool exterior, there lies underneath a certain vulnerability to this slouchy, gum-chewing, socially awkward character yet her marked unawareness of her own beauty makes her fascinatingly incandescent on screen.

This is to you, Emmanuelle, the forgotten diva of Hollywood starlets and timeless style icon.

Look at the photographs to see what I'm talking about but if you want the real deal - watch the movie!