Summary
Elaine is anything but a typical modern girl. Using magic to lure and keep men, however, she is left with a host of unexpected and frustrating emotions. Not to mention the ever growing stack of bodies she can claim to her name.
Let Me Count The Ways
Where do I begin with a movie I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed this one? The acting? The dialogue? The production design? The theme? The director?
Everything about this movie is 5 Star quality.
The production design is the first thing that grabs you. The retro 60s/70s vibe it gives off lends a fairy tale quality to the entire film and suggests that the movie you are in for might be a little old fashioned but in the best way possible. The colors are vibrant and meaningful and the costumes are actually used quite deftly to reinforce the themes of the film.
As Elaine begins a new life in a new town and reacquaints herself with an old friend, that old fashioned quality continues to rear its head through Elaine’s ideas and conversations about needing men and how to get them. By giving them everything they could possibly want of course.
This old fashioned, sometimes not-so-old-fashioned attitude, gives Elaine tremendous confidence that she will be able to woo a man, even her friend’s husband, but keeping a man is another story. Her elation and frustration with men forms the meat of the tale which ranges from play marriages conducted at a renaissance festival to the seduction of a detective investigating the mysterious ritualistic murder of a man from Elaine’s old town.
Again, I find myself lost to pick stand out moments or scenes from the film because it flows seamlessly between witchcraft driven sexual rites (remarkable tastefully done), afternoon tea, and internal monologues about men, women, and the sexual games, power dynamics, and longing for relationship they invariably seem to engage in with each other.
These themes are what makes the film a 5 Star film. Without them, sure the move looks great, is well and stylistically acted, and excels at creating a fairy tale dreamlike atmosphere, but without anything to say, who cares about all that, or at least, I would care very little.
This film is a strong piece which embodies and relates feminist viewpoint. As a white formerly-protestant male, that isn’t always my cup of tea. Often, I can walk out of a movie with that sort of a POV and feel like I am somehow all that is wrong with the world. What I loved about this movie was that even as it comes from that point of view and features a protagonist who murders men she is unhappy with, I never felt like it was attacking me.
That is a very difficult thing to do and not something most filmmakers bother to even attempt. Then again, that isn’t the only thing Director Anna Biller does for this film that most filmmakers don’t attempt. This film was in production for years because she designed every set, costume, and piece of artwork in the film. Such a personal touch from a director is unheard of in any world other than the indie film scene, usually without much success.
This film, however, is a triumph that owes everything to Biller and the weaving of the many threads of film production which she personally spun, creating a vision totally unique to her.
Saying I cannot wait for her next film is an understatement.
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