Looking like one of Richard Stanley’s documentaries, the film begins as a portrait of the filmmaker as refugee from the film world while staying in a small town in France. He’d fallen in with a group of mystical believers and seemed to have become a leader. As things go on the charges against Stanley for domestic abuse raise their head and things begin to change as the group has to ponder what the charges mean for them.
This is a heady film that twists and turns as it goes. Even knowing what happened, I wasn’t certain how the turns were going to come. (that’s a rave)
What I like about the film is that this isn’t Stanley’s story. This is the story of the community he became part of and which had to come to terms with a man who ended up not being who they thought. It’s the story of how a group of people moved away from “modern society” to heal themselves and then had to use what they learned to survive something they never expected to have to deal with.
There is a magic in this film fueled by the human spirit and like the best mystical journeys it’s one that isn’t easy and isn’t as expected.
You will forgive the lack of details in this film, I am still processing. Yes there is a narrative arc that is easy to discuss but this film is more than the narrative. This is a film about belief, and community, and the search for self and the darkness in the real world. It’s a film that has a great deal to say and in the days since I sat down to watch it I find that I have been pondering it, waiting and waiting for the words to come to me so that I can really discuss it and really show you the wonders contained. The trouble is the words haven’t come and all I’ve been left with is a deadline.
Make no mistake, this film is a stunner, it’s a film that will fill you with thoughts and feelings and make you ponder it. This is the best sort of filmmaking.
I can’t wait to see it again.
Highly recommended.
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