She is also somewhat surprised and dismayed to hear Rosalind, always so chipper-cheery, share sad memories. Julie has moral qualms about recording her mother: there's something vampirish about it. There are times when Louie, Rosalind's dog, whines, or scratches at the door. The entire movie operates under the pathetic fallacy: Fog and mist billow across the screen. It sounds like a woman is crying somewhere, or children are running up and down the halls. Julie and Rosalind appear to be the only guests. The Hall itself (the film was shot at Soughton Hall in Wales) is the most unsettling thing. Julie finds a quiet corner to work in every day, but she is distracted, and unsettled. Rosalind's memories from 60, 70 years before are superimposed over the current reality, Rosalind describing to Julie what used to be there. As a child, Rosalind was sent to this estate to escape the Blitz. Julie asks Rosalind questions and surreptitiously turns on her voice recorder. Julie is a filmmaker (presumably the Julie of "The Souvenir") and is trying to write a film about Rosalind, her mother. The trip is fraught for a couple reasons. Julie, a middle-aged woman ( Tilda Swinton) travels with her elderly mother (also Tilda Swinton) to a big country estate, a Downton Abbey or Gosford Park-type place, although considering the Gothic creepy setting, "Manderley" might be a more apt analogy. In "The Eternal Daughter," Hogg is working, again, in a very personal even auto-biographical mode, although the setting has changed, and the mood has changed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |