Quote:Miss G: Girls, we are angels, eagles! To dive is to fly. Set yourself free of the shackles of conformity. Let nothing hold you back except the air itself. You are between heaven and earth. The rules no longer apply.
Director: Jordan Scott
Who's In It: Eva Green (Casino Royal), Juno Temple (Atonement), Marie Valverde, Imogen Poots (Fright Night remake)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 41% (bullshit)
Tagline: Innocence isn't lost. It's taken. (One of the best taglines I have seen-for any film.)
Summary: A small group of girls attending a British boarding school are part of a dive team headed by their most-admired teacher Ms. G. The teacher's favorite, Di, soon finds herself having to compete for her beloved teacher's attention when a new Spanish student enrolls. Fiamma is soon caught in Ms. G's dangerous obsession leading to the unraveling of the teacher and a haunting lesson learned by all of the girls.
Review: Just finished this film about ten minutes ago and couldn't wait to write a review on it. The first section will be brief and spoiler free but the rest I feel I cannot do a proper job of reviewing the whole work and leave out key information. So read the first bit, then watch it, and then you can read the rest.
Spoiler-Free: One of the most striking elements of this film is its style. There is a peaceful grace throughout this film; calm hallways, beautiful woodlands, rippling lakes, and the elegant placement of the girls in these spaces. I was in love with the way the group of girls were arranged, whether it was in a classroom, around a diving platform, or lounging about on mossy stairs outside. I wanted to melt into the scene. The quietness of the spaces and calm that settled over the characters and the story was perfectly crafted. It was so contained, which I also think was perfectly accomplished in Black Swan as well. This world made of the fragile innocence of girls seemed to have no seams, it was beautifully displayed throughout the film. And that same calm made the premise of the film even more haunting...
Spoiler Review: When I first saw Ms. G on screen I thought, Wow, she looks gorgeous. And since I thought that I also assumed she was worthy of the praise given by her students. Ms. G gives wonderfully poetic life advise, "The most important thing in life is desire...Nothing is impossible for you, my girls," "Set yourself free of the shackles of conformity." She seems like the ideal woman, daring, poetic, beautiful, educated, and well-traveled. And then Fiamma comes to the school-unraveling Ms. G's very person (or persona). Fiamma represents everything Ms. G wishes she was, everything she portrays herself as. The young, pure Spanish girl sparks a desire in the teacher that she pursues with a flame of obsession fueling her. Only Fiamma can see that Ms. G is not what she claims and she knows that she is in danger of being captured or collected. And she was right to fear, for at the best opportunity Ms. G takes Fiamma for herself. Of course, from that moment it must either be the end of Ms. G or Fiamma. The older teacher manipulates young Di and the rest of the girls, setting up a perfect situation to be rid of the evidence and get rid of her obsession. And so the perfection of a child was squashed. As the tagline suggests, none of the girls are allowed to retain their innocence. Innocence was taken, not lost in some nondescript way.
You'll Love It If: you can watch a calm film and appreciate its every moment within the whole
You'll Hate It If: you need action and men in a film
A Mix Between...A Little Princess and Black Swan
WATCH IT!!
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