Martel's sophomore effort proves her to be as exciting a visualist as the Dardenne brothers and Almodovar (who snags an executive producer credit on the pic). 'The Holy Girl' is technically brilliant in almost every respect, the film is generally comprised of static, densely layered, close ups that provide an engaging intimacy with the actors. The use of purely diagetic music is blatantly self conscious, yet it works wonders for the picture.
Parochial student Amalia lives in a family owned hotel with divorcée mother Helena. A medical conference fills the hotel up with doctors, including the bizarrely enigmatic Dr. Jano. Both Amalia and Helena wind up inappropriately vying for the married man's affections for very different reasons.
The film's beginning is cold and confusing, and the characters aren't really accessible until about a half our in. The film's mysterious and difficult elements are consistent and become a nice asset later on. Is. Jano's indiscretion with Amalia limited to the crotch-push at the Theremin performance or was there something more?
While 'The Holy Girl' has semi-interesting characters, and a semi-interesting story, it could certainly have been more so. The superb cinematography can only carry the film so far. At some points the film is simply boring. Martel certainly has the vision and talent to be on par Lynne Ramsay, but she's not quite there yet.
Parochial student Amalia lives in a family owned hotel with divorcée mother Helena. A medical conference fills the hotel up with doctors, including the bizarrely enigmatic Dr. Jano. Both Amalia and Helena wind up inappropriately vying for the married man's affections for very different reasons.
The film's beginning is cold and confusing, and the characters aren't really accessible until about a half our in. The film's mysterious and difficult elements are consistent and become a nice asset later on. Is. Jano's indiscretion with Amalia limited to the crotch-push at the Theremin performance or was there something more?
While 'The Holy Girl' has semi-interesting characters, and a semi-interesting story, it could certainly have been more so. The superb cinematography can only carry the film so far. At some points the film is simply boring. Martel certainly has the vision and talent to be on par Lynne Ramsay, but she's not quite there yet.