La hija eterna

Film maker Julie (Tilda Swinton) brings her mother, Rosalind (also Tilda Swinton) to an old hotel in the countryside as it approaches her birthday, hoping to make a film about her. This was Rosalind's family home when she was young and Julie hopes this will help her recall events from her youth. It does though resurrect uncomfortable memories for both of them.

I'm not an unqualified fan of Hogg's work and indeed here it more or less seemed clear story wise what the direction of travel was going to be. So whilst this is more drama about mother / daughter relationships and the sadness of our past, it is also a creepy, atmospheric ghost story full of really fun ideas - why are they seemingly the only guests, what's with the rude receptionist / waitress etc. It's never scary - not that sort of film - but ultimately it all works and fits nicely together thanks to Hogg's direction and 2 excellent performances by Swinton.

A film with Tilda Swinton is always worth watching and so is this one! Though I have to say that I expected a little bit more after I read about the film at the Viennale (Vienna International Film Festival). What irritated me were the tags ghost story, supernatural, spooky and so on. Not that I expected a real horror movie, far from it. But not such a lame attempt of a ghost story.

The film starts out with a scene of a foggy country street and a lonely taxi coming along, quite evocative of old Hammer films of the sixties or early seventies. The main setting in an old country mansion turned hotel was a good choice. As was the rather unfriendly receptionist/waitress/housekeeper who raises a lot of questions in the mind of the viewer and is a highlight of the film. The mother and daughter conflict is very subtly done and evolves beautifully the longer they stay at the hotel, and the absence of other guests is quite unsettling.

But, being in a lonely hotel would make even completely relaxed people jumpy and here we have someone who is in a very difficult stage of her life and we could expect much more unusual things for her to hear or see other than what we get here. Tilda Swinton does her best to make us fell uncomfortable, but with this script there is not much to do. A little fog, some creaky trees and a shot of the moon, my, this is what you get in every other episode of Midsomer Murders, I am sorry to say! That is not upsetting or disturbing anymore, in fact it is a cliché and more of a parody. Besides, we all have seen films of people in empty hotels before and therefore you have to bring some new ideas to this setting.

When the film ended I was disappointed, there would have been chances to lead the viewer around but they are missed. I have guessed from the beginning what is reveiled at the end and that did not satisfy me either, I hoped that some twist eluded me, but no.

There's a hotel that's quite vacant and disturbed, full of ghosts that haunt themselves, it's quite absurd, lots of creepy mist and fog, a really, really lovely dog, and a receptionist presents with some discord. A daughter with her mother settle in, proceed to babble on, the dialogue's quite thin, if you'd made a reservation, you'd need more than just salvation, if you had the room next door, double or twin. There's little to engage or get you thinking, as events unfold, or don't, you'll just start blinking, then your eyelids slowly close, just like Louis you will repose, and into slumber, start to fall, gradually sinking.

I am shocked to see the negativity in so many of these reviews - personally, the movie blew me away and I thought it was quite fabulous.

It is an understated story portraying entirely one woman's psychological and emotional state at a particular point in her life. All of the scenery, the direction, the pace, the objects, the marvellous cinematography perfectly came together as a crystallized whole. The entire atmosphere of the movie can be thought of as an externalization of the protagonist's mind, her character traits, and her feeling of 'lowkey' entrapment.

There's not much by way of a plot, and there's not a second where the movie speeds up - it moves at its own languid, disquieting pace from start to finish. Much is left unsaid, unexplained - there is little solid structure to latch onto, so the only way to watch this movie is to surrender to Swinton's terrific + intelligent performance and let the scenes speak for themselves.

(Oh, and I thought the 'twist' was brilliant - it really elevated the entire movie for me.)

'The Eternal Daughter' is listed as a mystery drama. The only mystery I had an hour into the film was what exactly the point of me watching it was supposed to be. The film has no plot. It has no intrigue. It has no purpose to exist. This was a very disappointing experience.

Short of Tilda Swinton (in dual roles) being her usual watchable self it was pretty hard to find redeeming qualities in this film. It's is extremely slow - which is always going to be the case when we are effectively just watching a woman's uneventful stay at a hotel.

Thankfully this one is reasonably short, but I can tell you those 96 minutes will draaag. A generous 4/10.