Directed, produced and written by Sophia Coppola, The Beguiled is a reinterpretation of the 1971 movie of the same name, which was based upon Thomas Cullinan’s novel.
Set in 1864 Virginia, during the American Civil War, a Union soldier by the name of Corporal John McBurney (Colin Farrell) is discovered injured by a young girl. She helps him back to Miss Farnsworth’s Seminary for Young Ladies, a school where she stays alongside four other students and two teachers. His presence at the school is very disruptive and affects the women differently. To the girl who found him, Amy (Oona Laurence), he’s a friend. To the oldest student, Alicia (Elle Fanning) he’s an object of lust. To one of the teachers, Edwina (Kirsten Dunst), he’s a potential for romance. Then there’s Miss Martha (Nicole Kidman), who despite her wariness of him is won over by his charm. The question is...can he be trusted?
I went into this one with little expectations, but came out surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
There was a feeling of claustrophobic tension, the kind of which I recently complained was lacking in ‘It Comes at Night’. The film centres on the theme of trust. Can the women trust him? But also, can he trust the women. Not only is McBurney an enemy soldier, which would be enough to make him untrustworthy; he is also a man. These women have had little to no experience with men – at least not recently. This make him not only a physical threat, but in a way also a psychological threat. This is especially prevalent seeing as the film is seen very much from the women’s perspective.
As I mentioned, each of the women are affected by his presence. Farrell has a large part to play in nailing this because he has so much charm. The way he talks to each of them is focused on how best to make them trust and even like him. This persona seemed very natural for him.
I thought all the acting was pretty good across the board. Farrell stood out but the women’s roles were also impressive. Whereas Farrell was able to bring some charisma to his character, the female characters had to be understated and subtle with their performances. They’re characters had been through hard times and suffered great losses as a result of the war.
Everyone had suffered losses. They were very quiet and repressed. Kidman and Dunst in particular showed just how good they could be without ever straying into melodrama.
There’s certainly an old fashioned feel to the movie; and not just because it’s set in 1864. I should say though that the set and costume designs were very good. The way it’s filmed, the aspect ratio, even the font used for the title screen all made it feel as if much inspiration came the films of the 40’s or 50’s. At first I wasn’t sure about the squashed screen, but before long I didn’t even notice it.
Despite the small scale dramatic tone of the film, there were some subtle moments of comedy in there. One of my favourite scenes was at the dinner table when McBurney was invited to join everyone. A comment he made praising an apple pie started a couple of the characters to try to one up the other with the subtext of gaining his affection. It may not be laugh out loud funny, but I found it amusing.
Well made, well performed story then I’d certainly recommend The Beguiled.
