Innocence.
It is a term that has a variety of meanings and its interpretation is subjective at best, whether in the possible context of the court of law or the virginal nature of a young woman.
Lucile Hadzihalilovic's feature film debut "Innocence" is based on the 1888 symbolist novella "Mine-Haha: The Corporal Education Of Young Girls" by Frank Wedekind, which she seems more than happy to leave open to interpretation like the title she's chosen.
The film has a fascinating lineage. Hadzihalilovic is married to Gaspar Noé whose uncomfortable and abrasive film "Irreversible" was shot by cinematographer Benoît Debie, whose on-board here. The objective perspective remains here, even to the point of a heavy use of unpopulated static shots representing places and images that strangely evoke tension within the context of montage.
This is a film lover's film all the way. The visual palette offers the feel of the best short films, the quiet sensibilities of pictures before dialogue storytelling is a reminder of the silent cinema, and the symbolic nature serves up what's best about the mainstream maligned "arthouse". It would almost do a disservice to the film to share much about plot or character, especially since much of the truth in that is up to the viewer. What can be said is that it takes place at what seems to be an all-girl's school, complete with the consistent dread and uncertainty of Peter Weir's masterpiece "Picnic at Hanging Rock".
The filmmakers are very assured in their craft, even to the point of the highly watchable five minute title sequence being little more than a murky visual and a limited sound design. If you pardon the semantics, "Innocence" might not be a very good movie, but its one hell of a film.
It is a term that has a variety of meanings and its interpretation is subjective at best, whether in the possible context of the court of law or the virginal nature of a young woman.
Lucile Hadzihalilovic's feature film debut "Innocence" is based on the 1888 symbolist novella "Mine-Haha: The Corporal Education Of Young Girls" by Frank Wedekind, which she seems more than happy to leave open to interpretation like the title she's chosen.
The film has a fascinating lineage. Hadzihalilovic is married to Gaspar Noé whose uncomfortable and abrasive film "Irreversible" was shot by cinematographer Benoît Debie, whose on-board here. The objective perspective remains here, even to the point of a heavy use of unpopulated static shots representing places and images that strangely evoke tension within the context of montage.
This is a film lover's film all the way. The visual palette offers the feel of the best short films, the quiet sensibilities of pictures before dialogue storytelling is a reminder of the silent cinema, and the symbolic nature serves up what's best about the mainstream maligned "arthouse". It would almost do a disservice to the film to share much about plot or character, especially since much of the truth in that is up to the viewer. What can be said is that it takes place at what seems to be an all-girl's school, complete with the consistent dread and uncertainty of Peter Weir's masterpiece "Picnic at Hanging Rock".
The filmmakers are very assured in their craft, even to the point of the highly watchable five minute title sequence being little more than a murky visual and a limited sound design. If you pardon the semantics, "Innocence" might not be a very good movie, but its one hell of a film.