Sydney Film Festival - Film Review - The Beguiled

The Beguiled

Sophia Coppola's latest film, The Beguiled has attracted considerable attention, no less for the subject matter than for the well known cast which includes Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Colin Farrell. The film is based on the novel by Thomas P Cullinan, written in 1966 and described as being Southern Gothic in genre. Coppola's film is something of a remake as this story has already been placed on the big screen in a 1971 film starring Clint Eastwood with the same title. Coppola had viewed the 1971 film and felt she could approach the story from another perspective.

The storyline is set three years into the American Civil War and a wounded Union soldier (Colin Farrell) lost behind Confederate lines in Virginia is found and given shelter in a secluded girls college. The girl's school is run by Ms Martha Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman) assisted by Edwina (Kirsten Dunst). The rest of the film focuses on the sexual and social tension amongst all of  the young women at the school as they seek to foster attention from the Union soldier. In some respects they are also caught in an internal conflict for, as an enemy combatant, they are meant to hand him over to Confederate army patrols. The rivalries between the young women and girls is the focus for Coppola as she has sought to portray the story from a female rather than male perspective.  In a somewhat predictable end game the soldier becomes a liability when he starts to engage in more than flirtations with the women, ending with his quiet assassination by poison.

As producer, director and screenwriter for this film, Sophia Coppola has not quite succeeded in  reaching the emotional levels that such a story would suggest. Her characters are mainly wooden, one dimensional and artificial. This film certainly is a lesser result than her other clever work such as Lost in Translation. The cinematography captures the story setting perfectly with a grand Southern mansion, reminiscent of the cotton plantations, surrounded by forest and enveloped by  mist. Verdict: this is a DVD rather than cinema ticket film.

VERDICT
Rating out of 10	6.5
DVD or download ?	Yes
Worth a cinema ticket ?	No
Collectible Yes or No	No