I've had a lot of difficultly writing this review. I'm not exactly sure if this movie falls into the positive lesbian movie list. Granted, it didn't end badly, and it had a happy ending- but it did have a slightly melancholic tone throughout the entire movie. You do find yourself falling for the relationship between the two characters, even if you do question the motivation behind their actions, and the integrity of the relationship.Regardless of that, however, I did like this film. And I really liked some of the elements it used. It definitely touched on a number of topic that are rarely touched upon in movies. One of them is the concept of religion. With the exception of The Secrets, I haven't really run inot a movie where religion, Christianity to be exact, shapes the setting, actions, and the story of movie. Christianity to be exact. The main characters, Camille Baker, is a theology professor at an extremely conservative Christian college. Through mid-fortune and chance, Camille meets Petra, a free spirited traveling circus performer. They fall for each other, and Camille has to hide her relationship, not only from her employers but also her boyfriend, I mean, fiance.
Symbolism
I guess a part of the reason that the element of Christianity resonated with me in this film was because of the insane amount of symbolism in the film. There are a lot of elements here that bring about this idea of rebirth, renewal, and sexual awakening. Sometimes, I felt like it they were too forced, but all in all - they did their purpose. I especially liked the symbols of renewal and sexual awakening. The death of your white dog, which later comes back to life? Come on.
If you're going to watch this movie, look out for the symbols and make up your own mind on their effectiveness.
Relationship
You know, I'm not too sure about how I feel about Camille and Petra's relationship. If this was real life, I wouldn't this relationship would last. At times I felt like Camille didn't really love Petra, but more used her as her "first time" "coming out of the closet" relationship. At the same time, I'm not too sure that Petra was really that invested in Camille either. Did they love each other? Sure. They did enough to prove that much was true. But, are they going to run off and live with the circus forever? Ehh. The women are too different from each other for it to ever last. But, for the purpose of the film - let's say that it does last! Because, come on - it's nice to think that the characters stop existing when the film ends...right?
Regardless of this however, I still liked their relationship. It was nice to see a movie that didn't idealize the relationship, or make it seem like it had insurmountable problems. It almost felt like this was a couple that wouldn't really last, but also wouldn't end badly. The relationship would just end when it came to a natural stop.
This movie isn't particularly memorable, but it's not bad, it's just not great either. I feel like the tone of the film makes it difficult to actually like it too much since it is dark and frustrating at times. At the end of the day, I say - go for it. It will give you somethings to think about, or analyze, in the film.
