Seven Veils

É um filme instigante, que tenta trabalhar com uma metalinguagem no processo de fazer um filme sobre uma peça (Salomé, baseado na obra de Oscar Wilde), ao mesmo tempo que a diretora da peça, Jeanine, interpretada pela ótima Amada Seyfried deve conviver com seus traumas (quem escrevera a peça, no filme, morre com desejo de que Jeanine a dirigisse, mas há entre eles relações obscuras). Misturando um excesso de simbologia com cenas que mais sugerem do que explicam, fico a imaginar o quanto a própria versão de Wilde segue uma estrutura patriarcal pelo desejo de Salomé, quase reificado. Não à toa o filme apresenta alguns personagens secundários que questionam certos comportamentos (inclusive há também abusos entre os personagens secundários), que embora não tão bem trabalhados quanto à protagonista, dão o tom para um muito muito aberto a múltiplas interpretações. Essa colcha de retalhos parte de um roteiro confuso, sim, mas quero destacar aqui o grande trunfo do filme: a trilha sonora, simplesmente fantástica, o que torna a experiência hipnotizante. Lembra a atmosfera de "Cisne negro", mas aqui o foco é a direção, e não o palco, e de como a arte nos faz criar novas perspectivas da vida. Se fosse um pouco mais coeso, renderia de forma melhor, já que, muitas vezes, o menos é mais. Ainda assim, obra bastante desafiadora.

Author/poet/playwright Oscar Wilde is widely renowned for his observation that “Life imitates art” (or, more precisely, as the full quote maintains, that “Life imitates art far more often than art imitates life”). But is that statement indeed true? In many ways, it seems that both propositions are just about equally valid these days. And that’s a pervasive theme – from both perspectives – that runs through the latest feature from writer-director Atom Egoyan. The film tells the story of a theatrical director (Amanda Seyfried) who takes on the challenge of mounting a new production of the Richard Strauss opera Salome (a work ironically based on an Oscar Wilde play of the same name), a revival based on a previous version staged by her former mentor and now-deceased unrequited love. The opera, in turn, serves up a musical interpretation of the Biblical tale of prophet John the Baptist (Michael Kupfer-Radecky) and Judean Princess Salome (Ambur Braid), perhaps best known for her erotically charged “Dance of the Seven Veils” and who asks her stepfather, King Herod (Michael Schade), to present her with the holy man’s head on a silver platter when he spurns her romantic advances. Ironically, the director’s personal story uncannily parallels that of the operatic subject matter she’s now in the process of staging, presenting her, as well as many other members of her cast and production team, with an opportunity to examine themselves, their circumstances and the ghosts of their long-ignored pasts. In a sense, this scenario thus provides all concerned with a chance to work through their respective long-unresolved (and often-interrelated) issues, a de facto form of art therapy not unlike that explored in films like “Black Swan” (2010). Unfortunately, the narrative is overloaded with story threads and at times becomes a little too intricate and cumbersome for its own good. What’s more, after a while, the myriad connections linking these various subplots start to seem a tad convenient and contrived to be believable, regardless of how interesting they may each be in and of themselves. This tends to bog down the flow of the picture, which is unfortunate in light of the film’s promising premise, intriguing production design, and fine performances by its ensemble cast, particularly Seyfried and Rebecca Liddiard as the production’s property master. In all truthfulness, none of this is meant to suggest that this is an awful film; indeed, “Seven Veils” genuinely borders on being a truly engaging, memorable, well-crafted work. However, with so much going on, it tries to cover too much ground, which, if it had been judiciously pared down, could have made for an outstanding release. As it stands now, though, this is a case of an ambitious filmmaker not quite knowing when to quit trying so hard and not realizing that sometimes there’s no need to go overboard in trying to impress viewers.