Die Sehnsucht der Falter

I randomly selected and streamed this film last night on Netflix, enjoyed it, and checked today to see what others were saying about it. I was surprised to find harsh words about the film, and they made me wonder why people would react this way to a well-made story like this. The cinematography is lovely. The music is so well suited that it plays unnoticed beneath the visuals – never clashing with the emotional content of the scenes. The sound editing is top notch. The young actors are all excellent. Set design is spot on for the story. No dialog is wasted. Etc. etc.

So what was the problem? My personal reaction was quite good. When it started, I expected a bad film – another sappy story about girls at school. In fact, the only scene I didn't care for was the girls "partying" in their rooms. Such a cliché rendering. But the rest was endearing. The film seduced me, drawing me in further and further as I watched. It's not revolutionary, to be sure, but why does every film have to be revolutionary? We don't hold music to that type of criteria. "Oh, another blues song. That's been done…"

Harron's achievement here is in the mood of this piece. I see people complaining about the connecting scenes, and I think about how much they must hate a film like Upstream Color or Tree of Life or Melancholia (though those films are rated quite a bit higher). The Moth Diaries is not like those films because it has a much more grounded story.

Why are people down on this film? My best guess is that the negative reactions this film received are indicative of the altered nature of film itself. The Moth Diaries takes a different tack than contemporary blockbusters. It's not The Conjuring (a great horror film), which twists every few minutes and keeps throwing shocks at you, making you squirm in your seat. But it's not intended to be. It's not a shock piece. It is a mood piece, and Harron does a beautiful job of establishing a consistent mood throughout, a mood that captures appropriate emotional content for the age-rage of the characters in the story. Had this movie been released in the 1970s, it would have found a large, receptive audience. I, for one, found it refreshing to watch a film that takes its time building mood and environment and character.

The strength of the film is its subtlety. Unfortunately, it appears that subtlety is lost on many contemporary film goers. For me, The Moth Diaries returned me to the days when movies could be captivating and sensory without abandoning story in service to "art." I liked it and I'll be tracking Mary Harron's work from now on.

Rebecca attends an all girl boarding school for tiresome adolescents in an old hotel. Through her friendship with fellow student Lucie, she has learned to re-embrace life, after the suicide of her poet father.

However, When spooky new student, Ernessa, arrives and supplants Rebecca in Lucie's affection: Rebecca becomes jealous and decides that Ernessa must be a vampire, as described by her handsome romantic fiction teacher.

Staff and students succumb to premature exits of one sort or another and Rebecca becomes more and more convinced of the malevolent and supernatural influence of Ernessa whilst desperately fighting off the urge to kill herself.

Never was the nike "just do it" campaign slogan more in my mind. This film might appeal to you if you are a teenage girl, with little imagination or cinema experience.... otherwise I would avoid it.

The Moth Diaries - CATCH IT (B-) My expectations for The Moth Diaries were higher ever since I saw its promos and surprisingly at that times I hadn't seen Mary Harron? American Psycho or even Sarah Bolger in The Tudors. Once I saw Sarah Bol ger in The Tudor as Young Bloody Mary Queen of England (A Princess at that time) I was really psyched about it. Though after watching this I got to know that its directed by American Pycho's director. The Moth diaries is a chilling story of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl who, haunted by her father's suicide, enrolls in an elite boarding school for girls. Before long, Rebecca's friendship with the popular Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of a dark and mysterious new student named Ernessa (Lily Cole). Rebecca, whose overtures of concern are rejected by Lucy, finds herself lost and confused. Rebecca starts to suspect that Ernessa is a vampire, but, despite the suspicious deaths that begin to occur, her fears are treated as simple girlish jealousy. As the bodies of young girls pile up and the line between reality and the supernatural starts to blur, Rebecca decides to take matters into her own hands and get rid of Ernessa. (RT) Girls or boys living in boarding schools are not a new concept for movies. The concept of the movie is interesting even the execution is but there is something lacking. I couldn't figure that out it might be the production value or just typical scare tactics or its predictable ending. Sarah Bolger is amazing as she was in the Tudors. Sarah Gadon is good. Lucy Cole was made for these kinds of creepy roles. Her face is perfect to play roles like these. Scott Speedman is good but doesn?t have many scenes. On the whole, it?s not scary or even plays with your mind like American Psycho. It turns out to be a time pass supernatural thriller.

Director Mary Harron ("American Psycho," "The Notorious Betty Page") tackles neo-Gothic horror in her latest film, an adaptation of Rachel Klein's novel "The Moth Diaries."

Set at a remote Canadian BoardingSchool for Girls, "…Diaries" is the story of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) and Lucie (Sarah Gadon,) really, really, REALLY close roommates who are looking forward to spending their last year at school together. Enter Ernessa (Lily Cole) a suspiciously gaunt, pale, yet dark figure who quickly attaches herself to Lucie. Rebecca finds herself on the outside looking in as Ernessa and Lucie's relationship grows stronger; all the while Lucie herself appears to be getting weaker and weaker.

Hmmm… Life force ebbing… Ernessa never seen during the day… Ernessa never seen eating or drinking… Could she be a… super model? No, no, that's not it. How about a vampire? A ha! Could be. Coincidentally, one of the books being taught by the new hunky English teacher (Scott Speedman) is "Carmilla," a Gothic novel about a female vampire and her prey (that actually predates Stoker's "Dracula" by about a quarter of a century.) Is this a case of life imitating art? Or would that be art imitating life imitating art? Regardless, Rebecca can't get anyone to believe her that Ernessa is a danger to them all, even after students and staff start dropping like flies. What's a good Catholic school girl to do?

Harron does her best with the material, and the film does a good job of establishing an overall mood of dread with several effective set pieces. The ending, however, underwhelmed me. It seems rushed and incomplete, which may reflect the film's apparent low budget more than the filmmaker's intent. Harron has done much with little before, so I found myself let down with this film's conclusion. Solid performances, good location work and moody cinematography can't make up for a haphazard script and the lack of a solid ending.

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I think that this film had an interesting (while not entirely original) plot, but from what I've heard about the book, should have been better than it was. It showed some very promising acting from a few young actresses and I liked the directing. The main problems are that there wasn't enough character development of, well, any of them, the resolution seemed rushed and not nearly as epic as it could have been, and the mystery surrounding the character of Ernessa was, instead of intriguing, just puzzling. It's a little hard to describe, but I didn't feel that intangible suspense and relation to the characters that I'd like to have felt. Overall, I'd say it's worth a watch, but I do wish it had been better crafted.