A film as relevant 50 years ago as it is now.
It serves its purpose not as a masterpiece of cinema that inspires the imagination, nor as the surface level icon of controversy and lewdness that it has unfortunately become known for, unfortunate because it has been a fairly effective method of defanging it from its intention and impact.
Instead it is a loathsome gob of spit launched into the face of a society bound to the establishment and a…
Isabelle Huppert is a diamond in this, one of hard complexity refracting endlessly inwards, but with a core that is both brittle and fragile.
Perhaps the greatest piece of acting I have ever seen.
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
A strange case of a film that has its strongest qualities dampened by the things it gets wrong, and becomes weaker than the sum of its parts. Doubly frustrating because if the allure of the mystery and atmosphere wasn't so strong, especially in the opening act, it probably would have been less disappointing!
I could set my general wariness of modern adaptations aside when Eggers was attached, as he certainly feels like the most capable current director within that level…
