Search box

Friday, May 29, 2015

Antonia's Line (1995)

3 Popcorn boxes

Set in Holland right after the end of World War II (about 1945 or 46), this film stars Willeke van Ammelrooy as the title character,  Els Dottermans as her daughter Danielle, and several actresses as her daughter Sarah.

The film is more of a series of vignettes than a conventional film.  There is no plot to speak of; the film just drops in at various points of time and explores the relationship between Antonia and the other members of the small Dutch town she moves back to.  Since leaving some 20 years earlier, Antonia comments when she and Danielle move there, that things haven't changed at all.

The photography is very good, the set design fine, and the acting is on par with what you'd expect in a film.  However, the characters are abrasive and off-putting; somehow seem to get the whole village on their side in their running effort to close down the local Catholic church.  There are various births (though few of the women bother getting married), deaths, and a few farm animals thrown in.  This has been described as a feminist fantasy, but I found little to like here.

It's a subtitled film, and the subtitles are easy to read, and seem pretty accurate.   

Rated R for sexual content

No comments:

Post a Comment