Cracks
Eva Green's new film Cracks
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By Adam Leveridge. |  |
Wednesday, 02, Dec 2009 12:13
Directed by Jordan Scott, out December 4th in cinemas, starring Eva Green, Juno Temple and Maria Valverde, running time 104 mins.
What's it all about?
Based on Sheila Kohler's novel on life in a 1930s English boarding school, the story focuses on a group of girls fixated by their teacher and diving coach Miss G (Green).
The mysterious, yet charismatic, teacher encourages her students' obsession but her focus quickly shifts from Di Radfield (Temple) to the exotic Spanish foreign student Fiamma (Valverde).
The new student first shuns her new schoolmates and then, unforgivably, the advances of Miss G, resulting in disastrous results for them all.
As an example...
Miss G: "What is the most important thing in life?"
Radfield: "Desire. Miss G."
Miss G: "Yes, you can achieve anything you want. all you need is to desire it."
Miss G to Fiamma: "I would do anything for you, you do know that don't you?"
What the others say
"While hardly covering the most original thematic territory, Jordan Scott nevertheless makes a seductive directorial debut with Cracks, a story of desire and passions running amuck in an upper-crust all-girls boarding school." - Screendaily.com
"An auspicious debut for Scott, but one whose ingredients are too familiar to really fizz. Green is great, though, in a dark-tinged role that plays to her strengths." - Empire
So is it any good?
There is a very quick, very lazy way, of describing the debut effort of Jordan Scott (daughter of Sir Ridley) - it's the female version of Lord of the Flies.
The description is factually pretty accurate and without spoiling any of the film there are definitely aspects and scenes which have a direct correlation with William Golding's famous novel.
Ultimately though, the analogy is pretty unimaginative as there is so much that is original and delightful in this adaptation of Kohler's book. The direction for starters is wonderful. Scott has already admitted she constantly bugged her three-time Oscar-nominated father and his prolific brother while creating her first film. However, there are some things you can't teach and is very evident that Ms Scott has inherited all her father's skill when it comes to creating a beautiful scene. The slow-motion dives by the girls or the midnight swimming, even the midnight party in the dorm - they are all shot so richly that in that moment you struggle to think of anything more beautiful than what Scott has put on the screen in front of you.
While the cinematography gets full marks, praise should also be heaped on Green for her portrayal of the enticing Miss G. Tackling the toughest of subject matters, she soars as the initially glamorous teacher, the obsession of all the girls; but it is her depiction of the darker side of her character - the evil born from hidden flaws and a life of make believe - that really wows.
Temple and Valverde also impress as the rivals of Miss G's affection, one willing, the other not. Unfortunately though for all its positives, Cracks does suffer from the unfortunate fact that the lazy analysis of the film is probably the one you are most likely to take away with you. The ending is all too familiar to what we've seen before, on the screen or in the novels of our childhood, and it fails to properly deliver the knockout punch. It's as if we'd been expecting it all along, but had for a while had been distracted from the inevitable.
The visual delights produced by Scott though make the failings of the ending easy to overcome (almost exactly in the same way as her father's films of late), and it remains a film definitely worthy of your time.
7/10
Richard James