I was really looking forward to this one (even if I hadn't heard of it before a friend of mine mentioned it to me) especially given its affinity (according to the sleeve, at least) to Surrealism and Luis Bunuel in particular. However, while visually the film was undeniably arresting at times, the storyline - if so it can be called - is ultimately pointless with the film needlessly stretched out to nearly 2 hours. The school setting and the girl's coming-of-age suggested something akin to ZERO DE CONDUITE (1933) and VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970) but, as it turned out, it was far less satisfying than either of these truly surrealist masterworks. For one thing, the enigmatic narrative often takes turns to focus on one particular girl's plight at a time and, even if the little girl who rises out of the sea in a coffin at the beginning, is the ostensible protagonist, by the film's end another girl has taken center stage! I guess it is still a notable feature-film debut - especially coming from a female director - but, overall, it is so languidly paced as to invite drowsiness even in the most attentive of viewers!
Review of Innocence
