Search - Sequins on DVD

An admirable and well deserved to Vermeer (The spinning woma

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 05/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

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The terrible tragedy that means to be pregnant when you are just a teenager, the obvious fears, the familiar miscommunication, the expected social conventionalisms literally push to this young woman to abandon temporarily her job, adducing health problems related with a supposed cancer. Meanwhile she will find a place to work far from her social and familiar circle. Soon we will discover a sensitive facet beneath her, she is an admirable spinner woman who makes wonders through every little dress she spins.

An original proposal that deals with the strength of spirit that implies to be in that awful situation. There are moving sequences that will engage the spectator. A little gem from that sensitive young director: Eleanor Faucher.

Life is hard.

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Highly watchable characters, tender story

Wallace Smith | Chicago | 10/15/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Any feminist message that appears in this highly watchable film is restrained by the direction so to give the story more interest and appeal. If the underlying feminist message is that somehow men are to be blamed for all things having to do with sex (especially unwanted pregnancy), the story does not dwell on it. There is a violently graphic scene near the beginning of the film where a fresh water eel, doing its yeoman-like service as a phallic symbol, is brutally pummeled by a woman in her kitchen and then stripped of its skin. One cannot presume that the audience is simply to take note of a French cook's heroics.

What's really important in this film is the steady revealing of character rather than type, feminist or what not. A full range of daily life in Angoulême as well as accompanying significant emotions felt by 17 year old girl Claire (Lola Naymark) is nicely explored. In addition we can enjoy the beautiful cinematography and a pacing and tone similar to The Girl with the Pearl Earring to make it feel like a period piece although set in contemporary France.

The characterization is so well-defined that Claire transcends her pregnancy while living with it completely. We experience her life with an unwanted pregnancy through her varying relationships with her girlfriends at school; affection for her little brother; and even the unspoken pain she feels talking on the telephone with her demanding mother. We follow Claire into her gynecologist's office where keeping the baby or adoption seems to be the prevailing (anti-feminist?)context for this film.

There is a mood of understated suspense in the film. A tendency to depression surrounds her circumstances. Tenderness shown by Claire to her strict but tender-hearted employer (Ariane Ascaride) - a likely surrogate mother-daughter relation -is manifested in realistic and creative ways.

This film has many fine aspects to recommend it. It turns out not to be sappy and interest in the characters builds and builds. Any kind of feminist approach to this project is merely topical and has been superceded by its quiet humanity and beauty.

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