Date Watched

 

IN preparation for Burn's Night, I watched this bilingual movie about the Queen of France, Scotland, and England; based on novel by an Austrian and bankrolled by the Swiss. The movie was just as confusing. It positions itself as a historical docu-drama; but quickly takes you into a beautiful, haunting, and claustrophobic nightmare. The flashback and dream sequences quickly undo the linear narrative and twist the structure into a classic tragedy, where the inevitable outcome is always looming eve closer. The main actress is enthralling, the scenery and costumes are gorgeous, the camera work swings wildly from Merchant Ivory to Evil Dead. It has all the elements of a European art film. Expect to leave impressed and depressed.