Céline Sciamma’s queer feminist period drama about two wammin passing the Bechdel test in the Age of Patriarchy gets a thumbs up from me. I watched this movie on the plane and it’s common knowledge that flying makes you emotional/horny, which might explain why it left such a lasting impression.This film has everything you could possibly want: lesbians, nudity, costumes, art history references, vision — all while maintaining an uncharacteristic degree of restraint and not going too hard on the political statements. The casual absence of men for the most part is a nice touch. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s up there in my hall of fame, along with Harold Pinter and Joseph Losey’s The Go-Between, Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract and Alain Corneau’s All the Mornings of the World. The only thing that would’ve made it better in my opinion is if they delivered on all the threats of self-immolation in the end, but endings are something that filmmakers historically seem to struggle with, so next.
