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I should start by saying I've watched this film three times in the last week. I find it has a grace and enchantment most romantic films lack. The music, both the original score and the pop music, provide an emotional dialogue. Sometimes it's like poetry being whispered behind the actors--the cadence and chords carry a meaning, filling in the silence, but quietly, unobtrusively, unlike the usual marching band effect of most soundtracks.
The direction and cinematography are exquisite. The windswept grain, the famous light, the water still and flowing, verdant and barren, evoke tones of Bergman and Ullmann. The acting is pitch perfect throughout. In the most dramatic moment when Frida declares herself, her voice is so quiet, her body so still it is remarkable in her portrayal of emotional depth. She embodies the saying "still waters run deep."
This film is full of small details that are so understated they run the risk of being overlooked: the photo over the bed where Frida and Mia spend their first night together; Mia moving Frida's hair when lighting her cigarette; even the angle of the introductory shots--Mia and Tim making love--appear upside down both foreshadowing the turmoil ahead of them, and showing us that this relationship is upside down, all wrong, askew. Even the repetition of the theme of discovering the stranger in someone you thought you knew, whether a lover or yourself, is handled so gently that it looks completely natural. Yet each of the major relationships, and the main characters, has their moment of revelation.
Certainly the story isn't new ("Imagine You and Me" is almost identical) but the telling is so fresh, one almost forgets the others. Not to mention, it achieves a level of erotic tension about which most movies can only dream.
There is no need to dress this story up in rom-com hi-jinx silliness. There is no need to hide the scary lesbian love behind laughter (and let's face it, even today Lesbian love can be scary. There is so much at stake for everyone involved--the newly out risks losing her family, both women are losing established relationships and risk having their own hearts broken--these are the kinds of scary moments that elicit nervous laughter.) That is the grace of this film. There is no melodrama in the seriousness of the intense attraction and the mysteries of chemistry that blows up in your face. But don't worry, there are enough warm and funny moments to keep it from becoming ponderous ("vebabs" made my spit out my tea) but the subject is serious and so is the tone. In the end, I appreciate the artistry, the approach, and the execution of this film. Well done.
