SPOILERS HEREIN
I saw this film at the Avignon film festival, where it won Best American Feature. Deservedly so, as it is a well layered work.
What excites me most about this film is that while both the camera and the male lead, Michael, look at women with the normative gaze, the film is driven by strong female characters especially Irene Jacobs who plays the lead Anna with stunning results.
Going beyond the cliché of beautiful women as omnipotent, director Allen Wade strips it down to the way in which his players play with good results. One IMDb reviewer lamented that the film never went anywhere, but that is just the point. Michael is mentally and emotionally impotent and is thus dominated by all the women in the film. His mother and sisters browbeat him, an ex-girl tells him to get a life and a young Maggie Gylenhall, in an excellent turn, plays an aloof prostitute. Michael does nothing, goes nowhere because all he can think about is himself. And this in turn highlights the performances and presence of the female characters. A good lesson in that real men show their feelings before it is too little and too late.
I saw this film at the Avignon film festival, where it won Best American Feature. Deservedly so, as it is a well layered work.
What excites me most about this film is that while both the camera and the male lead, Michael, look at women with the normative gaze, the film is driven by strong female characters especially Irene Jacobs who plays the lead Anna with stunning results.
Going beyond the cliché of beautiful women as omnipotent, director Allen Wade strips it down to the way in which his players play with good results. One IMDb reviewer lamented that the film never went anywhere, but that is just the point. Michael is mentally and emotionally impotent and is thus dominated by all the women in the film. His mother and sisters browbeat him, an ex-girl tells him to get a life and a young Maggie Gylenhall, in an excellent turn, plays an aloof prostitute. Michael does nothing, goes nowhere because all he can think about is himself. And this in turn highlights the performances and presence of the female characters. A good lesson in that real men show their feelings before it is too little and too late.