This film was refreshingly original - if not in terms of theme then certainly in cinematography. The scenes are haunting, mesmerising and evoke memories of one's own childhood, little flashes and reminders of what being a child used to feel like.
The film is about girlhood and loss of innocence and is told primarily from the perspective of the girls themselves. There is an air of mystery and magic in this film that represents how uncertain and mysterious life is for children. Some things in the film are explained; most are not. However, this is deliberate. The girls find things out by peering through cracks in the doors, by listening to private conversations, by listening to what the other girls tell them about what is true and what is not true. The scene where Iris stumbles upon two adults in a dark room with a syringe is not explained and nor are the rumours of severe punishment for breaking the rules proved false or true, because these things are never clarified when we are children.
Being a child is frustrating because so much is kept from you; you catch snatches of whispered conversation and you discuss what you have heard with other children, often coming up with some very unlikely theories, which you believe because you are a child and still believe in fantasy. Making everything even more uncertain is that adults often lie to you to make you do what you need to do, at your stage in life. ("Don't watch too much television or your eyes will go square!" or, in the film, "Obedience is the only route to happiness"). This sense of mystery and uncertainty, of being unsure of what is real and not real, what to believe and what not to believe, and of being endlessly curious about the unknown but equally too frightened to break these unexplained rules, is something which 'Innocence' captures perfectly.
While this film is certainly not flawless - the short skirts also made me feel a little uncomfortable, even though I suspect the reason for them may have been to highlight the girls' ignorance of their own sexuality, their innocence, so to speak - however, there are many aspects of this film which are great.
The film is about girlhood and loss of innocence and is told primarily from the perspective of the girls themselves. There is an air of mystery and magic in this film that represents how uncertain and mysterious life is for children. Some things in the film are explained; most are not. However, this is deliberate. The girls find things out by peering through cracks in the doors, by listening to private conversations, by listening to what the other girls tell them about what is true and what is not true. The scene where Iris stumbles upon two adults in a dark room with a syringe is not explained and nor are the rumours of severe punishment for breaking the rules proved false or true, because these things are never clarified when we are children.
Being a child is frustrating because so much is kept from you; you catch snatches of whispered conversation and you discuss what you have heard with other children, often coming up with some very unlikely theories, which you believe because you are a child and still believe in fantasy. Making everything even more uncertain is that adults often lie to you to make you do what you need to do, at your stage in life. ("Don't watch too much television or your eyes will go square!" or, in the film, "Obedience is the only route to happiness"). This sense of mystery and uncertainty, of being unsure of what is real and not real, what to believe and what not to believe, and of being endlessly curious about the unknown but equally too frightened to break these unexplained rules, is something which 'Innocence' captures perfectly.
While this film is certainly not flawless - the short skirts also made me feel a little uncomfortable, even though I suspect the reason for them may have been to highlight the girls' ignorance of their own sexuality, their innocence, so to speak - however, there are many aspects of this film which are great.